Posted in General on Jul 21st, 2010
“All those expressions of unworthiness which Christian practice puts into the believer’s mouth seem to the outer world like the degraded and insincere grovellings of a sycophant before a tyrant, or at best a façon de parler like the self-depreciation of a Chinese gentleman when he calls himself “this course and illiterate person”. In reality, however, [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Jul 20th, 2010
“Christianity is supposedly a limit to personal growth and potential because it constrains our freedom to choose our own beliefs and practices. Immanuel Kant defined an enlightened human being as one who trusts in his or her own power of thinking, rather than in authority or tradition (27). This resistance to authority in moral matters is now [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on May 18th, 2010
I have Christian friends who refuse to challenge the misconceptions that non-Christians have about Christianity, because they would much rather be thought well of by not rocking the boat than to have anyone look down on them. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m just barely starting to learn what this should look like, [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on May 16th, 2010
Have you ever wondered how rich or poor you are compared to everyone else? You might be surprised when you see what percentage you fall under using the following website’s simple calculator, based on your annual income figure. I realize the statistics are from a couple years ago, but the point is not lost. www.globalrichlist.com [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on May 10th, 2010
This year as a tribute to John MacArthur serving 25 years as their president, The Master’s College published a special edition soft-cover book, “Daily Readings from the Life of Christ,” containing a year’s worth of short devotions to think on. When the board of directors wanted to print this book, MacArthur initially resisted, but it’s easy to see that [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Apr 27th, 2010
A fascinating article in the Boston Globe called “Separate truths” caught my eye yesterday after Ligon Duncan pointed it out via Twitter. Are all religions basically the same? Are Gods from different religions pretty much the same one? Can’t we all just get along? These are serious questions that deserve our examination. Stephen Prothero starts off [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Jan 18th, 2010
So on Thursday morning, I was thinking about how I could help the situation in Haiti, and came up with the idea of a local benefit concert. Long story short, the first show kicked off Friday night, and we raised over $900 from generous donations. All proceeds went directly to Three Angels Children’s Relief, an [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Dec 28th, 2009
The other night I had the privilege going back to serve some appreciative men and women in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. You really start to see your comfortable life in a different light when you’re talking with those who have no place of their own to rest their head. The best thing I [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Dec 10th, 2009
I have no idea how to do justice in describing the message I just heard. Of all the media I view and pass along in my sometimes too-connected social-networking life, listen to this one if you could only pick one thing. I’m not going to trick you into thinking it’s short, because it’s an hour [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Nov 2nd, 2009
In the Old Testament passage about Daniel’s friends getting thrown into a fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel chapter 3, check it out in context), I’d like to point out an important detail that we can’t miss, because of how relevant it is to the brand of Christianity that’s popular here in comfortable Southern California. [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Sep 14th, 2009
Here’s a book that I heard about a few years back and finally made a priority to read. Let me tell you: it was well worth it. Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (first printed in 1985, updated in 2005) takes the reader through some drastic changes [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Aug 5th, 2009
Last week I visited Kevin at the Northridge Hospital Medical Center as a part of the team from the church delivering meals to him and his wife. Kevin Mather was on a bicycle ride with some friends here in Santa Clarita last month when he was hit by a fast-moving vehicle, and the injuries to [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Jul 19th, 2009
The other day I heard something at work that just punched me in the face with a “What now?!” follow up. If you come at it from a similar viewpoint that I do, maybe it’ll strike a chord with you as well. The story behind this is that my company puts all of their employees [...]
Share on FacebookPosted in General on Jun 1st, 2009
Yesterday after my local church gathering I went with a couple friends down to Hollywood where a big group of mostly young people called Reality LA meet in Helen Berstein high school’s auditorium near Sunset Blvd and the 101 freeway. My local church in Santa Clarita, Copperhill, actually meets at a school as well, with no plans to [...]
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