The Great Deceiver
Satan worries me. Not in the grand eternal sense (he’s gonna loose and of that I am sure) but in the sense that he IS the father of lies. I know how deceptive I can be and then I think that Satan has been doing this a whole lot longer and has outsmarted much smarter people then I. He’s managed to fool the majority of the world into believing that he doesn’t exist and he has fooled most Christians into believing that he isn’t as smart, cunning or concerned about me, my life, my thought, my actions and my soul as the Bible says he is. Man he is good at being evil. The reason he concerns me is that even though that God shows me the dark places in my heart (and I know that there are more places that need his light of grace), I read about the...
The Joy of Christian Sex
Interesting video, worth the view. The corresponding article.
Equipping Without Burdening
Lately, I have been thinking through how to talk to children/youth about difficult things and I have come to the decision that (probably due to lack of experience) it is hard to know what to disclose. I normally err on the side of caution and perhaps I don’t say enough but I hope not to a fault. So I kind of see my role with the youth as this. I see them now in the younger part of their lives preparing for a journey/voyage/hike and I want to give them all they will need for the trip. You know the things looking back I wish someone would have equipped me with, or the stuff that was given to me that I found most useful. The challenge for me is knowing my place and knowing how much or how little. I don’t want to over step boundaries established by parents...
Disappointment
There are a lot of sad headlines these days, but this may be the saddest I have been in a long while: SURVEY: CHURCHGOERS MORE LIKELY TO BACK TORTURE The link went to this CNN story with a little less reactionary headline: Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful: Read here It boils down to this: I small survey showed that 54% of churchgoers said torture was sometimes or often necessary. I guess all that “love your enemy” stuff only counts if you are a Roman Centurion. No wonder we are losing the world. I think I will just decide that this was a poorly done poll seized on by the media to give us a bad name. There, that feels better.
Defined
You know one of my last post got me thinking about how much other people’s opinions of me effect me and how much the appearance I want to convey effects me. How much their defining me can hurt or help my life. I even do this to myself, defining myself by my strengths, abilities and even by my shortcomings and sins. This can create a really bumpy ride for me, trying to meet expectations and dealing with failed ones, but I need to remember stop and remind myself that I am defined. Not by Satan, the world, the media, my boss, my coworkers, my enemies, my friends, my wife or even myself. I am defined by the one who made me and I am his beloved child.