IS YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE SALT-FREE?

We encounter all sorts of labels whenever we go to a grocery store. There are carbonated drinks that are sugar-free. Other soft drinks are caffeine-free. There is whole milk, and then there is fat-free milk. Certain types of products such as pasta are gluten-free, and then there are soups and such that are advertised as “low sodium” or “salt-free.” I did a post four years ago on the metaphor of salt as used in the New Testament. It was not...

TIES THAT BIND

TIES THAT BIND

Deena just shared a video with me featuring Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction where he vowed “immediate and strict compliance” with a state order to teach the Bible in Oklahoma public schools.  In an interview with NPR, he said “Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”  Those who refused could lose their job and their teaching license. “In 2010, the Oklahoma Legislature...

Christian Marriage

CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

In this post, I’d like to discuss marriage, specifically, Christian marriage.  I do this without any intention to disparage how one society or another views marriage (e.g. child marriage), or the other customs that relate to marriage in different societies.  So, my focus will be on what the authors of the Bible and those ecclesiastical authorities who followed during the two millennia later taught and practiced. In the most succinct terms, Jesus defined marriage in Matthew 19:5, 6 where He said: “For this reason, a man will leave...

Our Lady of Paris Reopens

OUR LADY OF PARIS REOPENS

On December 7, 2024, Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich knocked loudly three times on the door to Notre Dame cathedral with his staff, referred to as a crozier1.  Once the doors were opened according to the “Rite of the Open Door,” the organ played, the bell rang and the reopening ceremony began as the cathedral once again roared to life following the catastrophic fire of April 25, 2019. Our Lady of Paris stirred from her slumber. The cornerstone for Notre Dame cathedral was...

Preach the gospel to every creature

PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE

  • January 1, 2025
  • /
  • Faith

In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is speaking to his friend Horatio about his father’s ghost which Hamlet has seen with his very eyes. Horatio is skeptical, of course, while Hamlet appears to be as crazy as a loon throughout most of the play. We know it’s a ruse intended to discover the facts behind his father’s mysterious death. But Hamlet sobers up for a moment to say to his companion “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,...

I've come to take you home/

I’VE COME TO TAKE YOU HOME

Last Sunday Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth President of the United States closed his eyes for the final time and passed from this life to the next. It was a sad day for Deena and me. President Carter was a folk hero to us. A mentor. But now, Jesus has come to take him home. I was a young Christian during the seventies when Richard Nixon was in office. I’d go to prayer meetings and Bible studies and people would plead...

ON THE TRAIL OF CANCER ONE YEAR LATER

The very beginning of my cancer blog can be found here JANUARY 17, 2025 (F) Clinical Scoring Just over two years ago I was scheduled to have an abdominal hernia repaired. When I was in my twenties and before laparoscopic surgery was as common as it is today, I needed abdominal surgery.  The surgeon cut a twelve-inch incision from the tip of my sternum (breastbone) to my navel.  Over the decades, the incision started to herniate, creating a slight bulge near the...

WHERE DID GOD GO?

  • December 30, 2024
  • /
  • Faith

In these dark days many people are asking “Where is God?” They wonder “Where did God go?” This is the question I’d like to address in this post. It is a most timely question as we welcome, or dread, a new year. No, God’s probably not under the bed. In some sense He’s everywhere, but that would not be the first place I would look. However, if He chose to, He could reveal Himself in the most unusual of all...

ANTEBELLUM EDUCATION IN NEW ENGLAND

This is a post about K-12 education in New England circa 1825. Many of my friends and acquaintances are teachers and I hope they find this interesting and well-worth the read. The post is about Antebellum Education in New England. week ago I happened to think about a red, one-room school house that stood empty but in good repair about a mile from where I grew up. That thought made me curious about early American education. I have a primer...

ÂCHTÓHU WINTER

It is Christmas time and this Christmas has been a particular blessing to me.  Last Christmas, many members of my family drove up from Texas and we had a wonderful time entertaining them and showing them around.  That was a blessing, too.  This Christmas, for several reasons, Deena and I spent the Holiday on our own.  But in New England, you are never quite alone.  Many things in my advanced years are unfolding before my eyes, last seen in my childhood, and I’d like to...

Verified by MonsterInsights