Jackie Robinson, Empathy and Shattering Stereotypes
Missy and I watched the movie 42 last week. As you probably already know, Jackie Robinson was the first Black player in Major League Baseball. As you might guess, it wasn’t a smooth transition and Robinson endured a lot of hate and persecution along the way. This movie could be a case study in how […]
The Difference Between The Revolutionary and the Cynic
The revolutionary and the cynic have only one thing in common. Both point out what is wrong. Then there are their differences… The cynic thrives in broken systems. The revolutionary challenges them. The cynic refuses to envision a better future. The revolutionary pursues it. The cynic is talk. The revolutionary is action. The cynic only […]
Hellenism vs. Hebraism in our Understanding of Faith and Baptism
In Alan Hirsch’s book The Forgotten Ways Handbook he describes the differences between a Greek/Hellenistic worldview and a Hebraic one like this, “The Hebrew worldview was a life-oriented one and was not primarily concerned with concepts and ideas in themselves. We simply do not believe that we can continue to try and think our way […]
Common Ingredients of a Paradigm Shift
Ingredients involved in the growing realization there is a need for change & innovation: 1. Tension – A growing sense that the way things are don’t adequately explain or account for your experiencing or desires. 2. Dissatisfaction – with the way things are that leads you into an all out pursuit of a better way. 3. […]
Easter, Bodily Resurrection and the Immortality of the Soul
One really common belief across religions is that existing comes with an inalienable right to continue to exist in perpetuity (forever). That is called the immortality of the soul. That view didn’t come from Judaism or Christianity but from the Greeks. Socrates and Plato both influenced this idea and it has had a heavy influence in […]
One Additional Gun Law I am in Favor Of
Here is one law that I wish we would enact. Close the gun show/private sale loophole. I don’t get why anyone can buy a gun via private transaction without using an FFL (Federal Firearms Licensed dealer). It makes no sense. They should require all purchases of firearms to go through an FFL. When you do […]
Mass Shootings: Christian Perspective on Prevention and Reaction
I am posting this here over from a facebook status update I put up this morning that created a pretty lengthy conversation. Here is a little bit of my perspective on this. You can put armed guards all over the place and that will deter crime. That is on the prevention side of the equation. […]
The Humanity of the Unborn: The Ancients Understood It For Two Reasons
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will eat curdsand honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” – Isaiah […]
Privacy & The Death of Community
Yesterday, something tragic happened to one of our neighbors. There was police tape everywhere and police all over their yard. I went out to speak with one of the officers that was next to our yard and he really couldn’t tell me anything at all. Some years ago I would have known that officer by […]
Two Traps Advertisers Use to Get Your Money and What Scripture Has to Say About It
There are two traps that some advertisers use to try to get you to buy their product. Trap #1 – The fulfillment trap: The message is, you can’t really be fulfilled until you have this product, live like this, drive that, or be like this celebrity. Trap #2 – The value trap: The message with […]