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Commonsense Christianity

I have just spent the last hour cleaning off my desk. To my left is a pile of papers that, if they were dollar bills, would buy me a weekend trip to Hawaii. And that’s just envelopes and circulars: the stuff with identifiable information on it is burning in woodstove hell. Such is reality in…

Just how obedient are Christians expected to be — and who expects them to be this way? In recent posts, I’ve been discussing Christian submission toward leadership (Must We Obey Church Authorities? and Is It So Bad to Be a Lone Wolf Christian?), and you can’t bring up that topic without someone putting forth Hebrews 13: 17:…

Obedience, subservience to authority, submission, docility, accountability — these concepts are so prominent, and so interwoven within many Christian circles, that you’d think they were the foundation upon which Christ taught. In other words, a good Christian does what he or she is told. “Jesus was passive,” someone told me the other day, “and He taught His…

We are the infelicitous owners of a truly dreadful toaster. It has one setting — burnt and black — no matter where we turn the dial, and lately it has decided that it only wants to toast one side of the bread. Those who enjoy edible food items keep an open and vigilant eye, the perfect toast requiring that one…

Self-defense is a good thing to know — many women wish we possessed enough simple martial arts skill that we could tumble an assailant to the ground, whimpering. But physically defending ourselves isn’t the only arena of importance, and even if we can’t find, or afford, a class on Jackie Chan basics, we can — and should — develop a means…

“Jesus is love.” How often do we hear this? If we’re around Christians, or within Christian circles, then we’ve probably heard it a lot. At the same time, however, it wouldn’t be unusual if we were confused, because, though people talk about Jesus, and His love for us, from the moment we grab a bulletin at the church door,…

I don’t tend to keep up on “Christian News,” because it pretty much looks like the standard misinformation and disinformation that the rest of the media world puts forth, only with the words “Jesus” and “God” thrown in enough to make it spiritually acceptable. Because I now incorporate a blog at the Christian Post, however,…

One of the problems of formal, prescriptive Bible studies is that, frequently, they mooooooooooove soooooooooooo slooooooooooowly through the Scriptures, focusing on one or two verses at a time and haranguing the poor words until they collapse, exhausted, and pant out, “That’s all I’ve got to say. Honestly. Please read the next sentence.” And while some…

As Christians, we scold ourselves a lot, not the least of which is about prayer. Have you heard this one? “God isn’t Santa Claus, you know, and He gets tired of our putting a wish list in front of Him all the time.” While it’s true that God isn’t Santa Claus, the implication that He…

On a recent visit to my middle daughter (note to self, and parents with three or more children: we MUST find a better term for “middle child”), I was convinced to join her, and a group of ridiculously fit others, at the local CrossFit Gym. CrossFit– a strength and conditioning program that is remarkably suited to…
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