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. Show more ›
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).Show more ›
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.Show more ›
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.Show more ›
Do Artifacts Have Politics?
https://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2018/07/12/do-artifacts-have-politics/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.
Denzel Washington: “Put God First”
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. Show more ›
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?
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).Show more ›
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. Show more ›
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”?Show more ›