Now I can retire early

I got an unexpected check in the mail just before Christmas.  It was for rounding and calculation errors that occurred in my 401k account over a three year period.  It came with a letter that had a lengthy explanation and a handy Q&A on the back.
So how much was the check worth?  $0.01.  Yes, one [...]

Fair and balanced reporting on Methodism

I critiqued the United Methodist position on abortion recently, so in fairness I thought I should point out something that I think they got right.  An equally controversial issue is homosexual behavior, and on this topic Methodist doctrine fairs much better.   I realize that many apostates, false teachers and others are trying to get this changed, but [...]

Conforming

In an episode of The Simpsons where Bart gets an earring, Lisa’s reaction was, “How rebellious,” after which she mumbled, “in a conformist sort of way.”  Even non-conformists typically conform to a new (albeit minority) role. 
The Book of Romans addresses conformity.  In Romans 8:28-30 we see that we are to be conformed to the likeness of [...]

Great quote on multiculturalism

Sir Charles Napier, a British general in India, said the following when Hindus complained about the prohibition on suttee (widow burning):
You say that it is your custom to burn widows.  Very well.  We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them.  Build [...]

Time Person of the Year: You! And me!

Man, this is going to look great on our resumes.

Do you want to delight God?

My Bible software found the word “delight” 110 times in the Bible (NIV translation).  Nearly every time related to humans being delighted about something – God’s Word, blessings, children, wisdom, etc.
Here is one of the only passages I found where God delights in humans:
Psalm 147:10-11 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, [...]

One Solitary Life

We saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes a couple weeks ago.  It was part of a season tickets package or we wouldn’t have gone.  It had some good dancing, of course, but loads of Santa “stuff” which we found tiresome. 
What pleasantly surprised me was the ending.  They did a beautiful living nativity [...]

Weekly roundup

Michelle Malkin on Rick Warren and his heavy-on-politics but light-on-the-Gospel approach.
College Women at Risk for Psychiatric Illness at Politically Correct Campuses
Peace in our time?  Not likely.  But we can have peace on earth today, in the sense of being at peace with God (see Luke 2:14).
The intolerance of tolerance.
Some Christmas history links, courtesy of TheChristianAlert.org.

The Gnostic Gospels

Dan & Edgar from TheChristianAlert.org did some excellent homework on the Gnostic Gospels.  Click on any of the links below for concise and meaningful overviews.  It is useful to know at least a little about each one so you can address them when the subject comes up.
You can navigate to any of the summaries from any [...]

Bible software

If you spend much time studying the Bible or doing lessons, you’ll want to get a good Bible software.  The best one I’ve found is from Logos.  They have a whole series you can choose from, depending on how many resources you want to have available. 
The main benefit for me is the user interface.  They make [...]

A portion of the proceeds go to charity . . .

Some products are sold with a promise that an indeterminate amount of the proceeds will go to charity (or the amount is in rather fine print).  It reminds me of a scene in The Simpsons when Lisa is getting a tour of a newspaper plant.  It went something like this:  
Tour guide:       A percentage of [...]

Pro-lifers don’t care about kids after they are born?

One of the most common sound bites / jokes that pro-choicers make about pro-lifers is that we are infatuated with the fetus but don’t care about kids after they are born.   The message is that if we don’t adopt all unwanted children then we have no right to complain about abortion.  It is an important sound bite to [...]

Book review: Hey! That’s not what the Bible says!

When the girls were young we enjoyed reading a book titled Hey! That’s not what the Bible says! by Bill Ross.  From Amazon:
. . . unique and very creative look into some of the Bible’s most popular stories including the Garden of Eden, Moses and the burning bush, and Jesus’ birth. 10 stories in all are told [...]

Weekly roundup

Chik-Fil-A is the solution to global warming.
Why is the ACLU so soft on campus free speech violations?  Perhaps because they share the worldview of the violators.   And why are they so pro-pornography? 
Joel Osteen on using scripture.  Guess what?  He doesn’t put it front and center.  You can hear one of Joel’s sermons plus a critique [...]

Taking St. Francis too literally

This is a rerun from 2006.
I always appreciated St. Francis of Assisi’s famous quote: ”Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”  To me, that means that our lives should reflect our faith in Christ.   It reminds me of the exercise where you ask, “If I were on trial for being a Christian, [...]

Kids and condoms

Some people think we should push condoms more to prevent diseases and pregnancies.  Organizations like Planned Parenthood encourage kids to have sex whenever they want and with whomever they want, but only if they use condoms.  Guess which parts of that advice kids are likely to follow and which part they’ll ignore? 
These “experts” act like [...]