Musings of a ’80s Child
So… stuff has been crazy lately, yeah? Tornadoes and massive flooding in Illinois, Iowa and Michigan; heat waves out East; and fires out west. Lest we think America’s being targeted by Mother Nature, there’s typhoons and earthquakes in Asia. Countless lives and property lost. All this in addition to the housing market declining and unemployment climbing along with oil and gasoline. Foreclosures are up, stocks are down. Corn and food prices have soared in the midst of all of this. → Read more...
Do As I Say, Not As I Do… Right?
Relativism. I’m sure most of you know that word. A quick and dirty definition of the word can be said as thus, “A theory, especially in ethics or aesthetics, that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.” I borrowed that definition from Answers.com. The unfolding story of the Eliot Spitzer scandal (Google it if you have been living under a rock lately) is interesting not because it has shades of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, but rather because Spitzer, the governor of New York, was exposed as a client of a prostitution ring despite being publicly well-known as a man who had serious morals and ethics. → Read more...
A Quality of Mercy, Part II
Part I can be found here. Last week I talked about struggling with the uncomfortable fact that my brother-in-law’s accused killer and I both were sinners and we both equally needed God’s grace and mercy. As I sat through the trial throughout the week, I kept thinking about three different people: Moses, David and Spider-Man. Moses is one of the most important figures in the history of Judaism and Christianity who is known for, among other things, helping free Israel from the oppressive force that was Egypt. → Read more...
A Quality of Mercy, Part I
This week and next week I’m going to talk about something very difficult and something that I hope none of you have to experience in your lifetime. Two weeks ago, my wife and I flew to Seattle along with her mother and younger brother. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a trip for leisure. We were there to attend the trial for the killer of my wife’s twin brother, Tim. Let me back up a little bit and give you some history. → Read more...
And Heav’n and Nature Sing
Last week, I talked about the fact that without Jesus as our savior and mediator, we cannot reach and communicate with God and thus ultimately fully worship Him. Worship is something that I have struggled with for a long time. For me, and I think for a lot of people too, it is hard to be reverent to something that you don’t see or fully grasp. That has been changing lately. My wife and I have a favorite show that we like to watch on the History Channel. → Read more...
My Horoscope for January 7, 2008
Fear not my readers, I will get to Part 2 in my Year-in-Review, but for now, I wanted to post something very funny that my sister passed on to me. It is my horoscope for January 7 of this current year from The Onion. I must warn you, it is eerily accurate. Virgo August 23 – September 22 You always thought that talking with your hands was something you did because you were Italian, but, as it turns out, it’s because you’re deaf. → Read more...
What Jesus Did
Some of you might remember this, but around this time last year when I first started writing these “mini-devos” I challenged people to use the fun mythology surrounding Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day (coming up this Saturday!) as a reminder to look inside our hearts and see what the weather forecast of our hearts were. I reminded people that while it was silly to put trust into a groundhog’s shadow, it wasn’t silly to trust in Jesus. → Read more...
Our Moment of Truth
Last night, my wife and I sat down to watch some television. We watched some American Idol (come on, you know you are too) and then after that was a new television game show on the FOX channel called Moment of Truth. The commercials about the show had interested us enough so we stayed tuned to see what it was like. The show’s premise and execution is very simple. You sit in a chair across from the host and get asked a variety of questions and you have to answer them truthfully. → Read more...
What Are We Giving?
June 19, 2008
Calvary
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Matt
Today’s word of the day: “giver.” n. One that gives: a giver of gifts. A donor or contributor. Often used in combination: almsgivers. Earlier today, I was included in a conversation that talked about what the bible verse of Matthew 10:8b means when it says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” The easy answer is the one that says in this verse, Jesus is saying whatever blessings God gives us, we ought to give out to others. → Read more...
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