temparbor

Down On The Church

I’m noticing a pattern. Every time I write or talk about a spiritual issue, I accuse the church of wrong-doing. I’m trying to put a finger on why this is, and I think I’m getting close. I’m hoping that writing it out will help me to nail this down. As I have mentioned before, IContinue reading “Down On The Church”

Sunday Comes Every Week

I haven’t put up a new post in a very long time. Even as it sit typing this one now, I’m doing it to avoid getting down to business with prepping a sermon for Sunday. That’s right, 3:29 on Friday and still no sermon. Nothing even started. To every person in every church on everyContinue reading “Sunday Comes Every Week”

Characteristics of Thoughtful People

I believe most people do not live very thoughtfully. This is not to say I believe most people are incapable of doing so, simply that it is not a priority for most, and for different reasons. I did not begin thinking a lot because of my careers as a college professor, pastor, and counselor. Rather,Continue reading “Characteristics of Thoughtful People”

Me Laughing

This is me laughing. I know. I realize I’m kind of in the background, behind my wife’s ever-smiling and lovely face. But I’m back there. And I’m laughing. I mean, really laughing. Not in a, “This is just a courtesy laugh” kind of way. Not in a, “I’m laffin’ now cuz that thing you justContinue reading “Me Laughing”

The Irrelevant Church

John 15:18-19“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. [19] If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. I’dContinue reading “The Irrelevant Church”

Things I Don’t Know

In my last post I said: I do believe in a universe created by a God who cares for us and wants to know us. I really do believe that Jesus Christ came as the embodiment of God and that his death was the price for my sin and for yours. I do believe inContinue reading “Things I Don’t Know”

God and me

My relationship with God has rarely been a smooth one. It’s kind of like those families where there’s one person who doesn’t act like they value the family as much as everyone else, but constantly speaks as if they’re the only one in the family who really cares. If the accounts I read of God are accurate,Continue reading “God and me”

Out of touch atheism?

I’ve spent some time today on the Godless Wonder blog. It’s a blog written by an atheist, dealing with atheism. There are quotes from various personalities denying the existence of God, cartoons making fun of religious believers, and snippets from news articles about religious foibles and idiocy. I had two primary feelings about this blog. First, I think aContinue reading “Out of touch atheism?”

On Deciding…

We live in a world dominated by feelings. That wouldn’t be much of a problem, except that this feeling-dominated world thinks it’s rational. A feeling-dominated world that thinks it’s rational demeans the opinions of religious people because they are “irrational,” but it demeans those opinions for irrational reasons. Feeling-dominated people do not know how toContinue reading “On Deciding…”

Seeing People

The other day a student at the university where I teach said, “I’ll bet you’re extremely confrontive with your clients. You tell it like it is.” Frankly I was surprised by this perception. His reply to my question about it was that I come across as no-nonsense, bold, and business-like. But he’s right. I do.Continue reading “Seeing People”