Tried With Fire

"Christians need to realize that while passion for family living and family values may feel timeless, how that is communicated and carried out in any place or any given generation will differ. We must be on our guard  that nostalgia for the traditional family, however that is defined, does not prevent us from ministering to the real needs of our communities... How do these nostalgic images and evangelical musings on the traditional family link to violence? you may wonder. The answer is quite straightforward. We teach and preach that the family is  sacred, ordained by God, honored by Christina people. The family may be sacred, but sometimes it is not safe. In our enthusiasm to support family, we often overlook that important fact. Statistically speaking, women, men and children are more likely to be harmed or threatened or injured within their own family home than outside it. When we place the family on a very high pedestal, we must recognize that the result is a cha...

One of my favorite managers from years ago was a retired Marine Corps fighter pilot. I happened to notice an interesting pin on his lapel one day and asked him what it was. It looked like a worm to me, which seemed odd, but he confirmed that it was a worm, a silkworm in fact. During a combat mission, his plane was shot down, and he was saved by his parachute. So the pin was a sign of membership in a club whose members owed their lives to the lowly silkworm. I did a search on the Internet, after hearing my boss' story, and found that parachute manufacturers founded these survivors' clubs . From their perspective, groups like this would be great PR. You couldn't ask for better testimonials than from people who were living proof that your product did the job.  Now let's move to a different group of survivors, survivors of domestic violence. Compared to people saved by their parachutes, abuse survivors are not good PR. Rather than being living proof that something wor...