Tried With Fire

I enjoy watching the wildlife in my small backyard. I've scattered seed on the deck to attract the songbirds and squirrels. It makes a mess, but I'm glad to help them out when the weather turns cold. When there is construction in the area, I wonder what happens to the critters who lost homes. I am not going PETA and arguing for animal rights over people's, but someone or something always has to pay. Construction of a shopping center will give people jobs and bring income to the community, but the cost is borne by the environment. I don't know what development would have looked like before the fall, but I don't believe there would have been a conflict between human beings and the rest of God's creation. One side would not have to suffer for the sake of the other. But nothing is free since the fall. Someone has to pay. I am troubled by President Trump's executive order temporarily barring certain refugees. I am concerned over the constitutionality of it. But...

I finished listening to White Trash: The 400-Year-Old-History of Class in America by LSU history professor, Nancy Isenberg. If you believe that America is a classless society founded on the principle of equal opportunity for all, this book will burst that bubble. The following quote from the epilogue jumped out at me because it accurately assesses, in my opinion, how politicians have manipulated different sectors in society including the "Christian vote."  Moved by the need for control, for an unchallenged top tier, the power elite in American history has thrived by placating the vulnerable and creating for them a false sense of identification - denying real class differences whenever possible. pg. 313. I also highly recommend this Pass the Mic podcast with Andy Crouch, author and executive editor of Christianity Today. His take on the dynamics of the 2016 election, politics, and the treatment of the vulnerable is spot on. Now when "class inequality" is...

[T]oday if you talk about Christianity being true or historically verifiable, many people would be puzzled. Religion is assumed to be a product of human subjectivity so that the test of "good" religion is not whether it is objectively true but only whether it has beneficial effects in the lives of those who believe it. Total Truth , Nancy Pearcey, Crossway, 2004, pp. 116-117. This quote reminded me of a pitch made by a popular preacher on television a number of years ago. He suggested that the host "try Jesus for 60 days and see if He won't change your life."  While it's true that Christ will change our lives, "try Jesus because it works" seems to be just a subtle form of the prosperity gospel. This is quite different from truth claim that God's wrath is coming, you must repent and believe the gospel. This also makes me wonder about the over emphasis placed on personal testimony. If the testimony is more dramatic, it's more convincing...

1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. 3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; 8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! This is something that I could never think ab...

Innocent Eye Test ~ Mark Tansey 1981 Do you ever think about things too much? I'm not talking about worrying, but ruminating too much even about good, healthy, theological issues. Since cows are ruminants, and rumination means to ponder , muse , or meditate , my daughter will say that I am mooing if I am in one of my thinking moods. Well, sometimes I moo too much. It often starts out as an honest search for an answer to a theological question or trying to find the root of an issue in my life but then the rumination takes on a life of its own. Rather than just living, I think about living rather than just doing it. So rather than analyzing to death what and why I am doing what I am doing, maybe I just need to get on with life and live it. This verse is a good reminder when I over moo it. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13