A few Sundays ago, the pastor at our church gave a sermon about making a difference, examining how there are basically two approaches—institutional and personal. Institutional change seeks to change how society and laws are structured so that it affects the greatest number of individuals. Personal change is what he called the “grunt work” of… Continue reading Musings on Making a Difference
Category: Christianity
Progress isn’t Relative
Two things baffle me about politics and religion, from what I’ve seen: 1. that political progessives tend to be moral relativists and 2. that moral absolutists tend to be political conservatives. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes a fairly convincing case for moral absolutism tempered with relativism. The idea is that any time someone gets… Continue reading Progress isn’t Relative
The Power of Prayer
I’m only a little bothered by atheists or agnostics who say when they were young they used to believe in God, prayed to him for something, didn’t get it, and then didn’t believe in him any more. What bothers me more are the atheists and agnostics who claim that prayer does nothing—that God does not… Continue reading The Power of Prayer
The Scary Charismatic Movement
Let me start off by saying, as obnoxious as it sounds, that some of my best friends are Charismatics. I know it’s dumb. When White people tell me some of their best friends are Black, I can only roll my eyes. But, I mean it. I don’t doubt Charismatics’ sincerity of faith in God. I… Continue reading The Scary Charismatic Movement
The Pledge Under God
Okay. I’m confused. Why is there all of a sudden a “new” controversy over the phrase under God being in the Pledge? Wasn’t this a news story about a year or two ago? Then, it just disappeared. Now, it’s resurfaced again for no apparent reason. Anyone know? Well, I just think the whole thing’s stupid.… Continue reading The Pledge Under God
Missionary Dating
Oddly enough, even though I have many friends who have either considered or actually have gone “missionary dating,” I never felt an inclination to do so. I’m married now, of course, so it’s personally a non-issue, but I still have a number of Christian friends who struggle a lot with whether or not to date… Continue reading Missionary Dating
Why I’m a Pro-Choice Christian
My first exposure to talks about abortion came from the conservative Chinese church I attended growing up. The youth minister, the head pastor, almost all of the adults, and almost all of the children espoused the same approach: no tolerance—abortion is wrong; it's murder; it should be illegal; and the only possible excuse for it… Continue reading Why I’m a Pro-Choice Christian
Secular Music Edifies Me
Almost every devout Christian knows at least one person who doesn’t listen to secular music. This is a very popular course of action for those who have attended a lot of youth retreats or who go to Christian colleges. I’ve heard about record burnings and commitments to throw away old CDs. The thinking behind this… Continue reading Secular Music Edifies Me
“Subversive” Saved!?
I’m not one of those Christians without a sense of humor. In fact, I was excited to see Saved! I know some Christians will judge a movie before it’s even been released (The Last Temptation of Christ, for example, which turned out to be offensive to me more in how boring it is than in… Continue reading “Subversive” Saved!?
Distracting Dress Codes
One of my friends from youth group is now a youth pastor and has posted a dress code on his church’s website. I find one sentence particularly amusing: “Undergarments should be worn and they should not be visible.” If they’re not supposed to be visible, what does it matter if they’re not worn? The rationale… Continue reading Distracting Dress Codes