Categotry Archives: food for thought

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What Do You Think About Anne Rice?

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Categories: church, food for thought

Anne Rice, the Interview with the Vampire author who in recent years became known for her faith in Christ, raised quite a ruckus on her Facebook page Wednesday by her reununciation of Christianity. Huffington Post reports on it here, but here’s just a tidbit of what she said:

“I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat….I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

This is a preview of What Do You Think About Anne Rice?. Read the full post (147 words, 1 image, estimated 35 secs reading time)

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No Matter What Science Now Says, In My Heart Pluto Will Always Be a Planet

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Categories: food for thought, What the heck was THAT?

When I was in third grade, I wrote an essay about the solar system. In it, I imagined I had a special space ship that let me travel to all the planets one by one and describe them. Pluto was most definitely on the list.

I’d tell you what Pluto was like, but I guess it doesn’t matter now, because a couple of years ago a group of scientist eggheads who think they know better decided Pluto wasn’t a planet anymore. Now Pluto is just considered one of several “dwarf planets” in what we now call the Kuiper Belt, a group of objects flying around out past Neptune. Pluto is just one of the larger objects.

This is a preview of No Matter What Science Now Says, In My Heart Pluto Will Always Be a Planet. Read the full post (556 words, 2 images, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

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The Myth of the Consumerist God

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

My family and I were having a conversation the other night about some of the honest struggles we sometimes have with faith in God, and what that even looks like. In particular, when we either ask God for something that doesn’t manifest, or when we believe something was of God that didn’t turn out the way we thought or hoped, it raises some questions in our soul about trusting God, or about trusting our perceptions. Did we ask wrongly? Did we hear correctly? How can we trust our perceptions in the future?

This is a preview of The Myth of the Consumerist God. Read the full post (1459 words, 1 image, estimated 5:50 mins reading time)

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Adventure Worth the Risk

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

When I tell people much about our recent story, how we’ve pulled up the stakes, left our home of ten years to move to another place where we knew few people and had no set prospects for an income–all because we wanted to explore a better quality of life by focusing on pursuing our God-given passions and gifts–I usually get a predictable array of responses. Some people say they are happy for us (and the loved ones in our lives genuinely seem to be); but some say it a bit wistfully, as if to add, “I wish I could do that.” And some say it, but it’s apparent they don’t mean it–because when someone takes that kind of a leap (especially if it is successful), it flies in the face of the excuses they’ve made for themselves not to pursue their own dreams, and the bitterness in their soul causes them to resent the ones who’ve done it.

This is a preview of Adventure Worth the Risk. Read the full post (1184 words, 1 image, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

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The Elephant in the Living Room

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Categories: food for thought

We all tend to look at life through filters.

I think it’s inherent in us to look at the world around us and try to make sense of it. We call this a “worldview.” It’s always interesting to me to talk with other people who have a different worldview than I do, because if nothing else, it reminds me that I don’t have everything figured out.

This is a preview of The Elephant in the Living Room. Read the full post (963 words, 1 image, estimated 3:51 mins reading time)

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Democracy and Citizenship

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up), politics? oh puh-leeze., Rantings

This post has been on the burner for several months, and I haven’t really made mention of anything political since the last presidential election (mainly because that’s not what this blog is about). But in just watching the unfolding of current events (including the health care debate), and continuing to ponder what the church’s role should be in such things…I think it’s time to write.

This is a preview of Democracy and Citizenship. Read the full post (1511 words, 1 image, estimated 6:03 mins reading time)

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Agenda-Free Evangelism

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Categories: evangelism, food for thought, love

That title might sound like a bit of an oxymoron to some. 🙂 After all…doesn’t all evangelism have an agenda?

Maybe. But lemme splain. 🙂

Have you ever had a friend that got involved in multi-level marketing (MLM), like Amway for example, and after awhile every time you talked to that person, you felt like they saw you as a marketing prospect? If not controlled, it can affect the very fabric of the relationship, because you feel like that friend has an ulterior motive–an agenda for being friends with you. And if that person really gets sold on their product and scheme, if you don’t bite after awhile, you stop hearing from that person. You aren’t seen as a productive prospect anymore.

This is a preview of Agenda-Free Evangelism. Read the full post (1015 words, 1 image, estimated 4:04 mins reading time)

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Perspectives on Easter

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Categories: food for thought, Things I Should Probably Not Be Telling You

Today is Good Friday on the church calendar–which means, of course, that Sunday is Easter (or Resurrection Day, if you prefer). This is the time of year when we observe and celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.

I’ve been thinking about this lately (and you know what THAT means)…mainly because I’ve been helping out a congregation with worship, which means it’s the first time in a number of years that I’ve been in an environment where Easter preparation is important. After all, lots of people attend church meetings on Easter that never do so any other time of year. It’s natural for us to want to put our best foot forward.

This is a preview of Perspectives on Easter. Read the full post (651 words, 1 image, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

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Creating Community, or Finding It (part 3: Our Journey)

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Categories: changing mindsets, church, community, food for thought

So read parts one and two to catch up…

With my changing views on community, I think what I’m about to share here is the most significant factor–because it really demonstrates what can happen when we let community happen instead of make it happen. (And this is just what our journey looks like–not an inference as to what yours should look like.)

This is a preview of Creating Community, or Finding It (part 3: Our Journey). Read the full post (1027 words, 1 image, estimated 4:06 mins reading time)
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