Month: December 2015

The War on Christmas? (Part 1)

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War on Christmas

Today (during the 3rd week of the liturgical season of Advent), I’m going to start a multi-part article on the so-called “War on Christmas” that some people believe is being waged in our culture. Needless to say, I am most decidedly not one of those people. It is almost as if our culture needs another excuse to find fault, lay blame, avoid responsibility, increase hatred and division, and, generally, offer service to the satanized god of death. I believe that I am among a small minority of people who actually understand the feast of Christmas and I have an opportunity to prepare Continue Reading →

The Mantle of the Prophet

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Prophet

The first book of Kings describes the word of the Lord coming to Elijah at Horeb. The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.1 So Elijah went and did what he was told. So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of Continue Reading →

I’m in with the In-Crowd

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It’s said that the first thing we do when we enter a strange social environment is to try to figure out where we fit in. We attempt to join with our fellows based on shared characteristics. We try to establish commonalities of status, class, backgrounds, experiences and goals. Starting from a feeling (really a conviction) of being an outsider, we want to bridge the distance that we experience between ourselves and others in any way we can. We desire to be included. We want to be accepted among those singing: I’m in with the in crowd I go where the in Continue Reading →

Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!

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Down the Barrel of a Gun

What do you think? Should a believer own a gun? I guess that ultimately depends on what kind of god that person believes in, doesn’t it. “By their fruits you shall know them.”1 For what purpose do people own guns? “For sport,” some would say. Ok. Would that be target practice? Learning to hit a target with precision? Training one’s eye-hand coordination and gaining effective muscle memory? Sure; why not? However, doesn’t that actually beg the question? People don’t practice the piano to train their minds and muscles; they do so to play music. Why, then, do people spend time, Continue Reading →

“God’ll Get You For That!”

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God'll Get You for That!

You’d better watch out You’d better not cry You’d better not pout I’m telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town He’s making a list Checking it twice Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice Santa Claus is coming to town He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows if you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake You’d better watch out You’d better not cry You’d better not pout I’m telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town1 Santa has a little list to weed out the naughty from Continue Reading →