A prophetic word

Change your mind…change you!

Is your mind the same thing as your brain? Well, your brain is an organ; your mind isn’t. Which sounds crazy, but there you have it. To which neuroscientists reply, why are you relying on such a distinction? What else is behavior but the result of brain biology? Yet the fact that criminals are treated … Read more

Relationship or religion?

Following Christ should be deleted from the list of world religions, because it’s not a religion. Following Jesus cannot be defined by the practice of sacraments. Anyone can practice them. Anyone can confess sins. Anyone can eat bread and drink wine or grape juice, listen to a sermon, fast, pray and study a Bible. And … Read more

Christian or Christ-follower?

I avoid the word “Christian” when talking about the church, because the word has become meaningless. According to the Pew Research Center, 65 percent of American adults describe themselves as Christian.[1] But all that means is that 167 million people, not counting children and teens, may or may not attend a weekly church meeting, may … Read more

The Tree of Knowledge is still alive, tempting . . . and deadly

The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! ~ William Wordsworth Sweet baby kale, peppery arugula and crisp baby watercress could be among the most delicious and unusual … Read more

The not-so-distant future

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2461″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]God has gathered the “nations” to fight against us for many years. If we are still standing today, we are seasoned soldiers. Seasoned soldiers are not those who wield the gifts of the Spirit—healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons. The Holy Spirit does that. Seasoned soldiers are those … Read more

Some thoughts about prayer

I’ve said before that prayer does not make you a Christ-follower. But, if you are a Christ-follower, prayer makes you an increasingly better one, because it makes you more and more like Jesus. Prayer enables you to see and hear him more clearly and thereby treasure him more dearly. I say treasure because the more … Read more

An amazing adventure

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2564″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]The church has been devolving for centuries, closing in on itself, becoming less the living body of Christ and more a religious organization. Those who have seen it happening thought it couldn’t be true. And, if it was true, they didn’t know what they could do about it. Others came to believe … Read more

Hail ye hollow men!

We are the hollow men We are the hollow men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless. T. S. Eliot wrote this poem in 1925—the year Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby about an obsessive decadent, Hitler published the first volume of Mein Kampf and … Read more

God is the enemy of a good plan

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”2441″ img_size=”full”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]“The greatest enemy of a good plan,” said business magnate Jack Bogle, “is the dream of a perfect plan. Stick to the good plan.”[1] Which is fine for businessmen, but it’s terrible advice for people like you and me. We were crucified with Christ. So we no longer live our old lives. Christ … Read more

Role playing

In theater, a cue is a signal for an actor to do or say something or an instruction for a technician or stage hand. A line is spoken, which cues a response, sound effect, lighting change or the end of a scene. Now and then, though, somebody misses a cue. Imagine what you would do … Read more