Truth, Love And Books

Oxy morons make me laugh. You know: jumbo shrimp, pretty ugly, seriously goofy...all those statements are somewhat funny and ironic, right?  But now, there's this increasingly popular, mainstream church movement labeled P rogressive Christianity.  And while Progressive Christianity is indeed an oxymoron, it surely is no laughing matter .  Rather, Progressive Christianity calls for some  serious examining.  The word progressive simply means to change or make better. That therein lies the concern. It is worth considering: How are mere mortals making what Jesus Christ (God incarnate) has said and done better ? Because while humans have created low carb pizza, rocket-ships, self-driving Teslas and many other amazing inventions, let us not forget:  perfection and immortality has eluded our human abilities. But Jesus? The Historical Jesus of Nazareth. He is the only one whom has come back to life.  He claimed to be God, and while He walked the earth eye...

I often like to tease my four younger siblings that they exist because of what a wonderful first child I was. In reality, I'm learning, my parents are fairly hearty people. Turns out, their first baby (me) was extremely fussy and pretty prideful and rebellious. Apparently, once as a 9 year old I ran through the neighborhood yellin g: "Call children services, my parents are abusing me!"  (ha not true at all) Now that I'm a mom and some stories of my childhood have been dug up, I'm somewhat mortified over what I put them through. Several times when I would mess up as a kid, I would read the Bible. It made me feel better and if mom would see me she would express pride over my right response to failure. Growing up, I had every reason to believe that the Bible corresponded with reality. My parents lived out their faith, I witnessed God provide for our family financially and answer really detailed prayer requests.  Overall the good book made sense,  and told a story of ...

Friend, Thank you for getting back to me. I did have some additional thoughts. To respect your time I will too try to be succinct.  You clearly possess the ability to communicate, to think logically and you value truth. I have always thought you were intelligent! I remember laughing when you legit corrected Mrs. Smith once, haha!!! My thought first goes to the value of reason. If we are all simply molecules in motion brought about by an unguided process, why deem our thoughts as worthy of being expressed? Would they not be the result of physical impulses? CS Lewis puts it in a better way: “Supposing  there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinkin...

 When my husband Winston, and I were just 23 we had the opportunity to visit the big island of Hawaii. His company promised to cover expenses, including an airline ticket and 3 nights in a stunning, seaside resort. Before-hand, there was some friendly debating between my father-in-law and I, as to who should accompany Winston. I had recently begun a new job, had zero paid leave, was too young to rent a car and was not exactly rolling in the dough. Winston’s dad however, was unattached, retired and apparently had made wise fiscal decisions over the decades. He held the obvious position in the argument. But I was not, not going. Not without a fight, mind you. In the months leading up to the trip, my older cousin (whom I always looked up to) was selling me on the island. She bi-annually visited Maui and had cast a vision for how remarkably beautiful the beaches were. Being an ardent beach (and adventure) lover, I begged and begged Winston to ignore our miniscule savings account and ...

My children are not amazed by Amazon Prime. Like at all. They know that when we order, we can expect a package to arrive on the porch in about 48 hours. Nearly every time I purchase, I’m incredulous. Is this real life? How do they have that many color options? How many warehouses do they even have? It consistently astounds me and I’ve never even utilized the drones. The majority of American kids are growing up in a world where if they want something, they can get it. Virtually anything at any time. Somehow, sadly, this idea seemingly has translated to truth. What’s true is like a custom Starbucks latte, what’s good coffee for me, may not be good coffee for you. Relative truth is the name for this mainstream ideology, and when we are talking about lattes, I’m whole-heartedly on board. But often, in parenting (and all that is significant in life) in order to be loving you need the truth. Objective truth. (Objective just means it supersedes opinion. ) Today’s youth has collectively adopte...