Honesty in Christian Convictions
Reading Time: 3 minutes It is important for us to be honest and open to truth. Sometimes people argue for beliefs and end up eroding trust because they’re not being as honest or accurate as they should.
Church of Christ—Denomination or Not?
Reading Time: 3 minutes I am a member of the Church of Christ. I’ve preached and helped out at a number of different assemblies, and I think that we are a denomination, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, but we’re one that I’m pretty comfortable with, as often we have some solid, Biblical teaching. I’ve noticed that our beliefs can vary a bit, too. In one town, in the assembly, the women will…
Will Singing with Instruments Send You to Hell? (Funny?)
Reading Time: 3 minutes How sinful are instruments? You’re about to find out! You’re driving down a highway in your home country, which is a nice, tropical island nation. The speed-limit sign says, “TRAVEL 80KPH,” and you’re doing a solid 75. Suddenly your rear window is suffering from over illumination. Cripes, it’s the cops! You pull over, and the cop walks up to your window and asks if you know why you were stopped….
You Just Broke the Law of Silence!
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are you good at following the law? Or are you an evil, law-breakin’ good-fer-nuthin’ lout? Imagine: You land in the beautiful, French island of Martinique and proceed to immigration. They stamp your international driver permit, but tell you that you’ll also need to get a local permit for €5.00, as well a read a short list of rules for driving on the island. The rules are simple and nothing that…
Podcast: The Honest Truth About Dishonesty (Part 1)
Reading Time: < 1 minute Lucas goes through a fun lesson that’s interactive—you can play along as you listen, too! We learn about the lies we tell everyone, and especially ourselves, as well as how to overcome them, using scientific studies by Dr. Dan Ariely and others. Attached to this link is the slideshow in case you want to give the same lesson or just follow along.
Freedom in Christ
Reading Time: 2 minutes Thanks to a study with Rhys N Thomas and his wife Sharon for helping me consider the following things, which I am sure can use refinement, so feel free to chime in. Christians have a lot of freedom, as we’re given far more principles than we are hard-and-fast rules. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul notes that there are those “who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have…
Wayne’s World Worship
Reading Time: 2 minutes I listen to a variety of podcasts, including ones which are highly secular. One podcast in particular features two people who join various religions and test out pseudo-scientific remedies, and then report back on their experiences. They’re atheists, and while I find that many of their metaphysical assumptions are poorly thought out, I’m always curious to hear such viewpoints. In Christianity, I’ve noticed that “worship” is an incredibly nebulous topic,…
Podcast on Divorce: Discussion 1 and 2
Reading Time: < 1 minute Divorce 1 and 2 Discussion—You can probably skip to the 38-minute mark if you want to get straight to the real setup for the coming class, as the first discussion is much abbreviated for privacy. However, if you’d like to listen to both discussion portions, the 1st portion is about: -Historical church views of divorce.-Old Covenant reasons for which divorce was allowed.-A brief look at what unfaithfulness in marriage entailed….
Kent West’s Shocking Video
Reading Time: < 1 minute My friend, Kent West, combined the audio from a lesson I gave on “worship” with some of my notes. I was pretty flattered and also surprised that I never even thought of that…not that I’d know how to do it! You can check out his wonderful blog at Westing Peacefully. He’s a pretty smart guy and I’ve learned a lot from his spirit.
Maidservants of Christ and the Parable of the Trolls
Reading Time: 4 minutes A disturbing trend I’ve noticed—especially online—is the decision to be neither charitable nor kind. It is instead replaced by a fervent love of anger and hostility. I hope that I’m not that way often, and please message me if I am; I promise I won’t bite. You see, I read a review of a movie recently, and in it, one cop said with some concern to another, “It’s not healthy…
We Should Sing—But What’s Singing?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In a post-lapsarian world which is increasingly dark, with headlines such as, “Transgender Man Gives Birth to Non-binary Partner’s Baby with Female Sperm Donor,” it can be surprising to find out what really bugs some folks—and I mean this sincerely, as in, ‘haunts the consciences of some’—in various Christian environments. This post is about something that truly does hurt and anger some Christians, and as a person who has felt…
The Fleshly Pleasures of Singing—A Brief Glimpse into History
Reading Time: < 1 minute My heritage has a history of viewing a certain hour-or-so per week as the hour in which one really “lives for God.” Instead of viewing worship as something which occurs from full-moon to full-moon (Isaiah 66) as the result of a spiritual prostration (John 4), some of the early Restoration leaders viewed it as something to be done only intermittently, and with great asceticism. That is, they viewed it as…