Reading Time: 6 minutesMany of us (including your kind troll here) often miss nuance and depth in the Bible by boiling things down too much. For example, we boil down our Bibles to “Old Testament” and “New Testament,” even though technically the gospels pretty much occur during what would be regularly called “Old Covenant.” In doing this aggressive boiling, we miss a lot of richness offered in the word. Some aspects that are thus overlooked are below:
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSome people dream of worthy accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them. Recently my mentor/hero/friend Luke Wilson accomplished some awesome physical goals, and I was wondering why people even in the military fail such goals. At the same time, I was thinking about much Luke has done in the lives of others, taking care of them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We accomplish much when we are resolute; when we “set our faces.” The…
Reading Time: 3 minutes “How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide” is a great book.* The authors have noted that academia (including the most prominent medical journals) is subject to an increasing assault whereby science is replaced by social justice. (They famously had a number of bogus studies, including one which won an award, published in academic journals to highlight this insidious trend.) The authors are also concerned about so-called “virtue-signaling” and…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat causes us to lie? If money’s on the line, do we lie more? What if we can make a lot of money? How can we enhance our own honesty? Lucas leads a lesson using Dr. Dan Ariely’s book “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves.” You can find the slideshow’s download link hosted at slideshare here. The class starts at slide 34 and ends at…
Reading Time: 3 minutesOften one hears that the only reason that was ever listed as “acceptable” for divorce (note: not nominal nor desired, but acceptable and reasonable) is infidelity. NOTE: A LITTLE BIT PG-13! It can seem unfair to us when we read the Bible and note what seems to be an indication that divorce was only allowed for infidelity. Why is infidelity worse than, saying, stabbing a spouse with a knife a…
Reading Time: < 1 minuteDivorce can be the hardest thing on a Christian. I’ve seen people who have tried so hard, and yet the marriage didn’t work out. You can’t force someone to freely love you, nor to honor their commitments. And from what I’ve seen, divorce can make Christians feel like they’re second-class—you know, they have “that thing” in their past. One gal mentioned to me, “It’s just so hard, because God hasn’t…
Reading Time: 2 minutesI was talking with my wonderful coworker Darla once, and she had some good advice about love and choosing the right person. Darla told me a story that I’d like to share with you below: A student asked his professor, “What is love?” The teacher said, “In order to answer your question, go to a wheat field and choose the best stalk of wheat you can find. Pick the one…