Some reading to make you think. No endorsement nor agreement implied.
A Handy Guide To Christian Outrage
Don’t get me wrong, I am deeply convicted by my faith. It grounds me. It comforts me. It defines me. But that becomes a problem when I forget that I am but one man. In one religion. That has over 41,000 different Christian denominations. Expecting the world to conform to my interpretation of ancient writings is a recipe for failure. No matter how loudly I thump on The Book.
World Vision, Priorities, and 10,000 Children
NO ONE WAS RIGHT. NO ONE. I’m going to start with where I think World Vision went wrong, but please stick with me all the way through, and please don’t assume, because I make points from the perspective of either WV or those who object to WV’s decision, that you can discern my own thoughts on same-sex marriage. I promise that you can’t, and that my thoughts are different from your thoughts about it
Non-Violence and Police Protection
In fact, while I believe I am called to swear off all violence, I don’t believe it would be hypocritical for me to call the police if someone were to break into my house, even though I know that these police carry guns and may perhaps use them against the thief. Consider that immediately after Paul told Christians to love enemies, to never retaliate, and to leave all “vengeance” to God (Rom.12:17-21), he went on to teach them that one of the ways God “exacts vengeance” is by using the sword of government, which is why Christians are to “submit” to it (Rom.13:1-7).
Do We Want To Be Wonderful Christians, Or Do We Want To Be Christ?
In our desire to be free of the sin which so easily ensnares, do we sometimes focus too much on freedom from sin and not enough on the Author of our faith?
Because sanctification happens not primarily through desiring to be sanctified but rather through desiring Jesus.
Why I Believe Art is an Important Part of Our Spiritual Formation
To stand beside the beauty of the ocean and let the power and grandeur of God’s creation fill your soul, can in turn fill your spirit with gratitude. But to gaze upon a scene in nature and to say this is all I need, is to limit your view of God and his great plan for mankind. The Christian heart must at some point spend time in deep reflection on the various scenes of the life of Christ, his teachings certainly, but also his actions. To view a work of art that focuses on the various stages of the life of Christ is to focus on Christ coming…Christ being born….Christ making himself known to the world. And when you see these scenes deeply with your heart, you see God coming to be where we are…giving us his best….making himself to become one of us…. so that we can become like him.
Your kid and my kid are not playing in the pros
Somewhere along the line we got distracted, and the practice field became the dinner table of the new millennium. Instead of huddling around a platter of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and fruit salad, we spend our evenings handing off our children like 4 x 200 batons. From baseball practice to cheerleading, from swimming lessons to personal training, we have become the “hour-long” generation of five to six, six to seven, and seven to eight, selling the souls of our family for lacrosse try-outs. But why do we do this?
To the Woman Behind Me in Line at the Grocery Store
To the woman behind me at the grocery store, you have no idea how much we appreciate you. You have no idea the impact you had on my kids. You have no idea how incredibly thankful I am for you. Your action may have been small, but to us it was monumental. Thank you.
Thank you for not judging us. Thank you for giving my kids a snack when they were quite hungry. Thank you. Just thank you.
Pakistani baby accused of attempted murder
Baby Mohammad Musa along with his father and other family members was booked for throwing rocks at gas company officials in the working-class Ahata Thanedaran neighbourhood on February 1, the family’s lawyer Chaudhry Irfan Sadiq told AFP Friday.
Inspector Kashif Muhammad, who attended the alleged crime scene and has since been suspended, wrote in his report that it was a case of attempted murder.