Of the ten commandment, the third instructs that a person “shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7 KJV). But what, exactly, does this mean?Continue Reading
Deep Thoughts on Book of Genesis
The creation account(s) in Genesis can be rather puzzling. Only so much can be ascertained from a literal reading of the text itself. Enlightened inquiry begins by posing questions and seeking to answer those questions. There are certain deductions and interpretations that can adduced from the self-referential metatext (that is, each creative iteration implicitly depends on predicate iterations and thus subsequent passages reveal things not explicitly disclosed by former passages). This post seeks to elucidate some of those readings, but it cannot conclusively explain everything. For that reason, one of the principal aims here is to pose more questions than answers so as to invite the reader’s own contemplation. Ultimately, though, full understanding probably depends upon prophetic revelation apart from the text proper.Continue Reading
Many Called, Few Chosen: Paul’s Conversion On the Road to Damascus
Matthew 22:14 tells us that “many are called, but few are chosen.” But what does it mean to be “chosen” and does that imply predestination? I am of the opinion that being “chosen” does not negate free will, but can indicate a level of pressure that can be just short of unbearable.Continue Reading
Working Diligently But Exercising Faith
It has been said that a Christian believer cannot be in faith and in fear at the same time. Some say that fear indicates an absence of faith, but that would not seem to be borne out by scripture. Many patriarchs of the faith have stepped out in faith even though they were still afraid. God’s call to Gideon (Judges 6-8) is a perfect example. Gideon resisted God’s mission because of Gideon’s social standing, but God said something very interesting to him: “Go in the strength you have” (Judges 6:14 NIV). Here, God does not say to Gideon that he should sit back and watch God do all the work, but rather that Gideon should avail himself of, and even employ, the abilities that God placed within him.Continue Reading
But David Strengthened Himself
1 Samuel 30:6 is often quoted to those of us going through great turmoil. But it is indeed a very difficult thing to do as King David did after losing his family and home in the face of imminent insurrection by his men! So how exactly does one “strengthen [oneself] in the Lord”?Continue Reading
Who Was Uriah the Hittite And How Does His Identity Expand The Story?
One of the best known narratives of the Old Testament concerns King David’s fling with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-12:23). To summarize, King David was taking a stroll on the palace roof and glimpsed a woman, Bathsheba, teh wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing (presumably through an open window). David shags her, she becomes pregnant, and David ultimately has her husband Uriah the Hittite killed. But the significance of Uriah’s personage is not well understood. Continue Reading
From Zero to Hero
Modern history is full of people who are discarded in ministry because of past sins—particularly those who committed notably vile sins but who experienced a massive, radical conversion and personal reformation. But it is a valid proposition that God will use people in that condition regardless of past sins. One example is Manasseh, King of Judah (2 Chronicles 33:1-20).Continue Reading
Why Is “Cunt” So Radioactive?
Men do not casually call women cunts. Yes, men might casually refer to them as bitch or ho, but cunt is neither casually bantered nor indiscriminately hurled. Indeed, cunt is reserved for extraordinary cases and when it is used, it is (probably) well deserved (either on general principle or for specific conduct demonstrated at or near the moment of invocation). But why is cunt so horrifying? Perhaps it is that cunt is the ultimate reductive objectification . . . meaning that the denigrated female has absolutely no value apart from her vagina *or* that she so lacks social and intellectual value that she is equal to a whore or prostitute. Yes, in this light cunt would seem unbelievably harsh, but as far as reductive objectifications go, why is cunt so taboo while dickhead, prick, and asshole are not?
God Can (and Does) Change His Mind
It has been said that God cannot change his mind or alter his plans once decreed. Two verses in particular point to this:
Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV)
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.
But there are clear instances where God in fact changed his mind and/or altered his declared course of action. Continue Reading
Denzel Washington: “Put God First”
Grammar, People, Grammar
I just heard an NPR correspondant say “may” when she should have said “might.” Here’s the difference: may indicated permissibility; might indicated possibility. So it is incorrect to say that an event may not occur if one is trying to communicate doubt or uncertainty of its coming to pass. The correct usage is that such an event might not occur.
Do Artifacts Have Politics?
God and Dice
Albert Einstein famously said (and Stephen Hawking famously repeated) that “God does not play dice with the universe,” but perhaps dice are marvelous illustrations for understanding the trinity.Continue Reading
God Is Love (but what does that mean?)
Christians are quick to quote 1 John 4:8b that “God is love” but how often is this quoted in a self-serving, self-affirming manner? By this I mean in the first that when going through a rough stretch in the road of life, is professing that “God is love” just a way for the sufferer to revive hope that s/he is not utterly alone? Conversely in the second, is saying “God is love” just an excuse wielded to excuse the adherent from demonstrating love for his/her neighbor? Such a Christian believer might inwardly believe that it is God’s love that summons the unbeliever to believe and that the believer’s love for the unbeliever is of no consequence whatsoever. Both these and any other conceptualizations are completely and totally incongruous with the text.Continue Reading
The Mark of the Beast
The book of Revelations describes the final days before the second coming of Christ as a time when the antichrist’s representative will “force all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name” (Rev 13:16-17 NIV).Continue Reading
Brett Kavanaugh: The Standard For Confirmation Is Not the Standard For Conviction
In my gut, I don’t want to see Brett Kavanaugh confirmed—and not just because Donald Trump wants him on the Supreme Court—that was just the first strike. Listening to the compelling testimony against him was the final nail in the coffin. But my gut was not without its heartburn for feeling that way. I disliked myself for judging a matured man for the offenses of his youth. Even so, his declaration (“I am innocent of this charge”) sounded too much like the famous “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” line. Continue Reading
Would It Help?
Idaho’s Stupidest Candidate Bob Nonini
Earlier this year there was an AP story about an Idahoan Lt. Gov candidate who, as part of his stumping, asserted that women who undergo elective abortions should be prosecuted if Roe v. Wade is ever reversed. OK, without actually attacking his statement, let’s just examine the underlying stupidity that should disqualify him from public office. Continue Reading
Energy better invested in solving violence rather than insisting on segregtion
Marlen Komar: “Why Most Men Still Don’t…”
“In the mainstream, gender bending still only goes one way,” writes Marlene Komar for Racked. She considers that there has always been a double standard in Western society which historically regarded men as superior to women. Therefore, women who emulate and appropriate masculine symbols (such as pants, blazers, etc) enhance their social status and are viewed as ambitious and stronger. Conversely, men who take on feminine symbols are viewed as less masculine and weaker. And she’s correct. And professor Terry Kogan would agree.Continue Reading
The Purpose of Miracles
The Apostle Paul taught that signs and wonders were for the unbelievers that they might believe. While believers certain reap benefits of miracles such as healing, the manifestation of miraculous signs were not intended to be a sign to the unbeliever of God’s existence as an omnipotent deity unlike other false gods of his day. Since believers already understand this, the working of miracles certainly benefits them, but the performance of miracles as a sign was for the unbeliever. What exactly is this supposed to mean…that God runs a dog-and-pony show? Of course not!Continue Reading
Can Anything Happen Without the Lord’s Permission? (Part 1)
Lamentations 3:37 of the New Living Translation reads: “Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission?“1 As a starter, I want to point out that “permission” is different than direction. In a very real sense, “permission” simply means that something is allowed but not necessarily commanded. In other words, to say that nothing happens without God’s permission is, at a minimum, a statement that nothing happens without God’s awareness. This also suggests a potentially inferable consent for if an adverse event were completely intolerable or anathema to God’s plan then one could believe that God would intervene.Continue Reading
A Quick Note On Gender Expression
Gender expression is essentially the outward manifestation of a person’s gender psyche. Gender expression could also be equally described as the outward presentation of how a person wishes his/her gender to be perceives. In this light, at least, it is worth observing that presentation is characterized as much by what isn’t as what is. So the opposite of ‘masculine’ is not axiomatically ‘feminine’ but rather that which is simply anti-masculine. (And of course the inverse is true of the opposite of ‘feminine’.) So to represent that one is not [fully] masculine, it is necessary only to deconstruct the cultural aesthetic of ‘masculine’ of ‘feminine’ and this can be achieved by blending elements of both aesthetics in an unexpected, highly individualistic manner. This is the crux of what it means to be non-binary. The man who deconstructs the masculine aesthetic is not automatically pursuing the feminine aesthetic or declaring gayneas any more than the woman who deconstructs the feminine aesthetic seeks to attain the masculine aesthetic. Either is simply a representation of the gender psyche.
Men and High Heels?
Can Anything Happen Without the Lord’s Permission? (Part 2)
Two verses have been on my mind again these last two or three days. The first is John 19:11—”You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above“—and Lamentations 3:37—”Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” (NIV–1978). Another more modern translation, and the one that I really want to focus on, renders Lamentations 3:37 as “Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission?” (NLT–1996).Continue Reading