Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Does the Religious Right Even Write Poetry?
Does the religious right even write poetry? Asking for a fellow blogger who suggests that, No, they do not write poetry because one cannot make poetry out of sheer vitriol.
Bahahah! Oh ouch, methinks she nailed it. Chuckling here because one of the definitions of “vitriol” is, “sulphuric acid, or one of many of its compounds, which in certain states have a glassy appearance.”
I used to call a lot of people within Western Christianity, “the beautiful people.” It wasn’t a compliment, it meant the cup was all shiny on the outside, but the inside was just a glassy acid of pure vitriol.
Keep following me for more handy tips on how to win friends and influence people.
So I refer you to Aaron Renn’s article at First Things called, “THE THREE WORLDS OF EVANGELICALISM.” It is about the shifts in our culture, the culture wars and culture warriors, and…
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The Second World War, part one
A few historians suggest that the two world wars were, in reality, one war of roughly thirty years, with a treaty separating the earlier hostilities from the final stage of the war. Their model for this suggestion is the Hundred Years War between England and France. That war began in 1337 and extended until 1453, but it consisted of three stages of fighting and two truces—one of roughly ten years and the other of nearly twenty-five years.
Both at the time and in retrospect, one could defend the proposition that the Second World War picked up where the first World War ended. But unlike the Hundred Years War, in which the governments of England and France both remained stable (even as kings died and were replaced), the governments that brought about the Second World War were largely different from those that had fought in the Great War. Hitler and the…
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Can Evolution Explain Altruism?
It’s my hobby to interact with people and talk about my Savior, Jesus. He’s the Creator (Col 1:16) and the promised Messiah (Gen 3:15.) Despite my multitude of sins and those of all repentant sinners (John 3:16), He demonstrated his great love (Rom 4:8) by taking on the full wrath of the Father to atone for wickedness (Rom 3:25)
Inevitably in some of those conversations, skeptics bring up evolution as a reason not to repent. The conversation sometimes includes this phrase:
I’m with Greg Bahnsen when he says that evolution can’t explain ANYTHING. But one of the questions I’ve asked God-deniers about evolution’s explanatory power is “How is altruism consistent with evolutionism? How does evolution explain altruistic behavior?”
This is apparently a question that triggers God-deniers, because when I post that question on social media, there are all kinds of caustic and derogatory remarks about my lack of…
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Learning to Trust the Lord
Several years back I had a dream, a rather ordinary looking man standing on a bank across a river, just pointing to his eyes. I knew he wanted me to cross the river, but I just looked away. Nope, not happening. That water is moving way too fast and I don’t even know you…
It’s almost comical how simple that symbolism is, how obvious it all seems today, but at the time I was completely baffled. I couldn’t figure out why I kept having this dream. I didn’t recognize the man, I had no idea why he wanted me to keep my eyes on him, and the water looked cold.
2010 was actually a pretty tough year for me. By the time we got to the 2020, I felt like I’d already lived through the zombie apocalypse, Y2K, and Mad Max all at once. It’s darkly humorous but my fear-o-meter…
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Bible Contradiction? What’s new?
For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: What’s new?
Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:
Nothing is, or ever will be, new.
“What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Some things are new.
“Behold, I am going to do something new, Now it will spring up; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have…
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Branches of philosophy
Although some early Christians rejected all secular philosophy, many other Christians found philosophy a useful tool to understand creation and to communicate with people living in the world. Church leaders came to regard philosophy as “the handmaiden of theology.” God and his revelation took first place, and the teachings of philosophy were not allowed to contradict the Word of God. Beyond that, philosophy had an honored place in the toolkit of Christian education, and also that of Jewish education and Muslim education.
In the Middle Ages, philosophy and education were expressed in what then were called the seven Liberal Arts. These began with the “trivium”—Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. These studies are in no way trivial: they remain the foundation of thinking and communication, including written composition and public speaking. The other Liberal Arts were Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music. A solid basis of knowledge in these areas prepared any student…
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Investigating the Pace of Evolution
Here’s an evolutionary article from Brock News claiming that the pace of evolution is faster than evolutionists thought. I’ve commented on similar articles and thought I’d see if there’s anything new.
The traditional view of evolution tells us that evolution occurs slowly, over millions of years. It happens so slowly, that, in our human lifetime, we’ll never observe it. Supposedly, no human existed when invertebrates evolved into vertebrates, or fish evolved into amphibians, etc. However, now that humans exist and can record history, we don’t see evolution happening.
This would appear to be a problem for evolution. After all, if evolutionists want us to believe in evolution, but we can’t observe it, then how do we know it actually happens? By blind faith?
Well, evolutionists have changed their tune. Today, evolution happens rapidly, faster than previously believed. In fact it happens so fast, there’s no excuse NOT to believe in…
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Paperwork Matters
First a bit of background, hubby was a roofer, self employed, ran a small business for a number of years. I kept us legal and stress free. That means documenting expenses, income, keeping receipts for tools and equipment, doing payroll, filing quarterlies, and paying taxes. There was also some licensing, some insurance, and some permits to maintain.
Easy, simple things. Anybody can learn how to do it. It’s a lot of minor details, a bit tedious, and it requires some discipline, a commitment to actually invest a few hours into getting it done, and not at the last minute, but as you go. That is what I mean by, “keeping yourself legal and stress free.” Staying on top of your books.
It is not fun to get notices from the government or to suddenly discover you owe a few grand you knew nothing about. That all just creates needless stress…
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Philosophy
One might say that every person is a philosopher, just as every person is a scientist, and every person is an artist. We all seek to understand the world around us and what it contains; with a combination of observation and experimentation, we all try to gain information and clarity about our world. We all express ourselves, from time to time, by humming a tune or doodling a design or telling a story. We all ask the Big Questions, at least once in a while, such as, “Who am I?” and, “Why am I here?”
But only a few become professional scientists, studying a science and earning a degree and taking a paid job to work with science. Only a few become professional artists, making a living in music or painting or storytelling or another of the arts. Only a very few become professional philosophers, and most of them end…
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Gospel: The Source of Joy When we suffer as Christians
Note: Last week I posted “My Rough Translation of 1 Peter 1:3-7” that was part of my sermon preparation for a retreat. Some of you shared you would like to see the finished sermon outline. Here it is.
1 Peter 1:3-12
Establish the need: I do think our world will become more Post-Christian and with that I do think there will be an increase of Christian suffering both in the West and already the case outside the west. Yet can we have joy in the midst of suffering as a Christian?
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…
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LET THERE BE LIGHT
1/9/2019
LET THERE BE LIGHT

I know, I know…the Bible is not a science book.
What I wonder, though, do you think it is true?
I keep hearing that the earth is
2. something billion years old…the universe even older than that…
Yeah, God could have created everything, but not just thousands of years ago…billions. Science has proven…science tells us…even God could have used evolution which we have proven to be true.
Don’t be so literal, Randy.
The Bible is a book to teach you how to live. Who cares if it was billions of years or thousands?
Hmmm?
I kinda care.
Here’s what I think. Granted, I have no more weight on my side than anyone else.
Shoot, I didn’t even finish college.
So…consider my opinion.
When God said (according to Genesis), “Let there be light,” that is (according to Genesis) the first time there was light. (oooh…
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Aftermath of the Great War
The Great War devastated the countries involved, both winners and losers. Nearly ten million soldiers were killed and another twenty million were wounded, not counting civilian deaths due to the war of another 7, 700,000. Battlefields became ugly scars on the land, and the emotional reaction to the war was equally scarred. Nearly the only reason for optimism after the war was the hope that it would be the last war of history, the war that ended all wars.
Because they called for an armistice before enemy soldiers had crossed the borders of their land, Germany and Austria (along with their allies Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire) expected to approach the negotiating tables as equal partners with the Allied nations. Instead, Britain and France were determined to make their wartime enemies suffer, to make them pay the cost of the war. Meetings were scheduled in five suburbs of Paris, France:…
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WHO ARE YOU GONNA BELIEVE?
I’m tired of being lied to.
The trouble these days is that the lies continue to be told until they are believed.
Believing something doesn’t make it true.
Just because someone is an authority, or has authority, doesn’t mean he, or she, can be expected to tell the truth.
Well, we can expect it, and we can accept it.
But, that doesn’t make it true.
When you are planning your life based on the advice and counsel of “authorities “, and you discover that the things the authorities have been
been telling you are not true, or based on anything other than an expectation of a hidden outcome, do you continue to listen to them?
If more and more sources are telling you the same thing, even after you discover that the original premise is false, when do you begin to question the veracity of what you are hearing?
How…
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Philosophy
Should Christians avoid philosophy? Is the practice of philosophy one of the dark arts, like sorcery? To answer this question, one might quote Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits [or principles] of the world, and not according to Christ.” That is, in fact, the only verse in the Bible that uses the word “philosophy,” although Acts 17:18 does mention the philosophers addressed by Paul in Athens.
If philosophy is worldly and evil—part of the human world that is opposed to God’s Truth—then Christians should indeed beware. One cannot walk through mud without getting dirty, and one cannot dabble in worldly affairs without becoming tainted by the sins of the world. Yet many things in the world are good and God-pleasing when used rightly but dangerous and harmful when used wrongly. Water…
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ARE YOU DRIVING WITH YOUR EYES OPEN, OR CLOSED?
Do you drive with your eyes open or closed? I’ve seen people drive like their eyes were closed–but I’m talking about driving all the time with eyes that are closed. The newest vehicles will now help you drive–they will sound warnings if you get out of your lane. They will even apply the brakes for you if you don’t. You can just “point and go” when you get in vehicles so equipped. Me? I’m not ready to trust my life to an onboard computer. Over the years I’ve had too many personal computers crash to trust them to be my chauffeur.
What’s my point this morning? My point is this–if you won’t drive with your eyes closed, then why try to navigate life with eyes that are closed–closed to God? The Spirit and I were just sitting and talking on the front porch bench. I started to pray about the…
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Ignorance of the Biblical Language and the Skeptic Annotated Bible
Would it be weird if someone published a book critical of American English literature…turns out he or she did not know English at all and is making a name for himself or herself for critiquing English classics? I think I would think that is strange; probably won’t buy the book. Strangely the world has a double standard when it comes to the Bible.
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OH, LORD! IT’S MONDAY! THE ISSUE OF NOISE
How well do you handle noise, loud noise? Most of the time we don’t like loud noises, especially when we aren’t expecting them. But what about “silence”; How Well Do You Handle Silence? What happens when we come face to face with silence? Truth be told, most of us are better at handling the noise than the silence. Yet, without frequent moments of silence, Mondays become a day of dread and distress.
This morning I woke up to a light snow on the ground. Here in west-central Alabama, it’s an unusual thing–about like some college team other than the SEC winning the College Football National Championship. I know, that was ugly of me! And as I went outside for my morning worship–it was the silence that overtook me. No early morning work traffic. No strong winds blowing, no thunder, no lightning–just silence. It reminded me of Elijah at Mt. Horeb…
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FINDING TREASURE
After Christmas brunch, my brother, Jeff, my wife, Wendy, and I were sitting in our sunroom, sharing the wonders and joy of finding a life fulfilled in Jesus.
Jeff said, “We don’t know who we are without God….”
Jeff’s wife of 30 plus years, Ann died two years ago on Christmas Day after several months of inoperable brain cancer.
Jeff was with her at the moment she passed into “the real world.”
Our daughter, Chelsey, died nineteen years ago in a traffic accident, as a passenger in our car.
We were all together in the moments before the collision when she passed into “the real world.”
In times of loss and the grief that follows, the plans that we had made for our futures are flipped on their heads. Everything changes. A new path of life opens, and we are forced into a decision of choosing between the possibilities.
So…
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Bible Contradiction? Should you answer a fool according to his folly?
Note: The reason why I’m refuting this particular contradiction today is because a few days ago some troll said I was “lying” for not having an answer to this alleged Bible contradiction because I didn’t get back to him right away (and his second comment made me not wiling to respond). I personally think this is not the unanswerable alleged contradiction as the troll think it is! It is actually an incredibly low-grade example for an online troll to pick as a challenge for Christians to answer.
For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Should you answer a fool according to his folly?
Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:
Yes.
“5 Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:5)
No.
“Do not answer a fool…
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A Son of A Refugee’s Appreciative Letter to a Church in Middle America
The year 2021 is coming to a close. I’m beginning to reflect back this year. Having a blog helps. Soon I’ll write my post of the top posts of the year. But as any writer knows, there’s some posts that one might think should have done better but didn’t make the top 10, etc.
Earlier in August I wrote “A Son of A Refugee’s Gratitude for Christians in America’s Mid-West.” Some of you regular readers of the blog who followed the site for years have said it was probably one of the best posts I wrote. I think I agree. If you remember August was the fall of Afghanistan. The comparison of Vietnam to Afghanistan made me think about my own family history.
It turns out the next day after I wrote that post we got a letter from the church that sponsored my mom’s family to the US. …
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clydeherrin 