I’m a logician. No matter how wrong I am, I can always convince myself I am right. -Jarod Kintz Continue Reading
April 7, 2015
The Compartmentalizer
"If you follow a universal principle, it positively impacts all areas of your life. Universal principles don't compartmentalize." -Steve Pavlina Year after year, I hear wives agonize over the choices their husbands made. “What was he thinking?” they’ll cry, “and how could he do a thing like that if he loved me?” Continue Reading
February 23, 2015
Slimed
Several years ago I was teaching a five day seminar on purity for men. The location was a seaside resort town, the venue was a hotel, the meeting room overlooked the beach, and I think you see the problem. Continue Reading
September 29, 2014
Not Interested. Thanks. Goodbye.
It took me about four decades to perfect the art of brushing off pushy solicitors. Not that I begrudge anyone their means of making a living, but when I want something, I’ll go out shopping for it. I’ve no need for anyone to call me suggesting a product or service, and I have a particular dislike for telephone solicitors invading my home with their pitch. I’ve tried listening politely, only to have my politeness mistaken for weakness. I’ve tried venting my frustration at being interrupted by a sales call, only to hear that I’d be glad I was Continue Reading
August 5, 2014
He’s Just Not That Into Him
A book and subsequent film titled “He’s Just Not That Into You” looked at the phenomena of single women who find it hard to accept the fact that when a man doesn’t return phone calls, breaks promises to get in touch, or keeps making excuses for not getting together, it doesn’t mean he had a car accident. Nor was he kidnapped, drugged, or overcome with the flu. It simply means he’s not that into you. Brutal fact, but there it is, and it’s better faced than avoided. Continue Reading
August 4, 2014
“Regrets, I’ve Had a Few —“
“---but then again, too few to mention.” Or so crooned Frank Sinatra in his signature ballad “My Way.” And if that’s really true, more power to the guy. Me, I had a multitude of regrets by the time I was ten, so I certainly didn’t reach middle age with a clean slate. I’m pretty sure most of us have some sense of falling short of our own standards when we review our lives. And that’s where we walk a fine line between healthy regret and unproductive guilt. Continue Reading
May 5, 2014
Assessing “God and the Gay Christian” – Part I
Why Bother? Today’s church is being asked – pressured, really – to follow the culture’s lead, and the culture is leading towards wholesale approval of homosexuality. So Matthew Vine’s new book God and the Gay Christian is a fresh, eloquent, and well publicized addition to the pressure. If Vines had authored an argument for immersion baptism as opposed to sprinkling, or for a Mid-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint instead of a Pre-Tribulation one, or for the continuation of the gift of tongues as opposed to its extinction, then I’d say Yawn to Continue Reading
March 28, 2014
A Welcome Divergence
My son and I caught a screening of the new Neil Burger film Divergent yesterday, and while I can’t say I was blown away, I did like it enough to recommend it, both for the quality of the film itself, and for the relevant-as-today’s-paper questions it raises. Continue Reading
January 31, 2014
Twinkie Salad
It’s become chic to say Christians should be known more by what we’re for than what we’re against. Usually the phrase is employed to criticize believers who openly stand against abortion, homosexuality, pornography or unclean entertainment. (Though interestingly enough, if the same believers stand against human trafficking or child abuse, no one pulls out the For and Against line.) And to a point I agree. If our primary message has been a one-note tirade against select sins, then yeah, we blew it. That’s Law without Gospel, obsession with one Continue Reading
September 24, 2013
Who Really Stays Pure?
"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification --- that each of you possess your vessel in honor." -I Thessalonians 4: 3-4 Sexual purity for the Christian is a mandate, goal and achievement. It’s a mandate because it's expected by God and reasonably so; it's a goal in that we strive towards it, and an achievement when we both attain and then maintain it. It's also way of being and living that runs contrary to so much of what we’re exposed to daily. Continue Reading
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