The Life Given

I wanted to take a step back from the particular subject matter of the blog and zoom out to the general.  This post helped to stir the pot. A couple were driving to Dallas, December 15, when they were pulled over by a State Trooper for a non-speeding violation.  When asked where they were headed, the couple said that they were going to Dallas due to a death in the family.  Eventually, the officer asked if he could pray with them.  This moved the couple to tears, and inspired them to share this story. This struck me, obviously, as a wonderful story and served as a reminder for the broader context.  In a time when the culture seems to be aggravated politically during the push to impeach President Trump - it is good to remember that our King will always be on the throne.  More specifically, our King is on the throne and cannot be impeached by any party.  Nor is he a capricious ruler that brazenly tweets out his every thought.  It is  import...

In an article written by Stephanie Kramer she explains research done by the Pew Research Center which shows that out of 130 countries and territories the  U.S. has the highest rate of children living in single-parent households . The article goes on to explain that even with the US leading in this category, they are much less likely to live with extended family: "While U.S. children are more likely than children elsewhere to live in single-parent households, they’re much less likely to live in extended families. In the U.S., 8% of children live with relatives such as aunts and grandparents, compared with 38% of children globally." There are quite a number of things that could be drawn out of this, but the most pressing is the overall fact that America is in an ever-rising need for stable-homes.  Whatever the social-political reasons there are for this statistic, an answer is creating stable families.  Which, primarily, comes down to you.  This is why...

Senior Minister of Claremont United Methodist Church, Karen Clark Ristine ( per her FaceBook profile ), says she was stirred to tears by the nativity scene that her church put up.  She wrote on Facebook Dec. 7, "The theological statement posted with the nativity: In a time in our country when refugee families seek asylum at our borders and are unwillingly separated from one another, we consider the most well-known refugee family in the world. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family. Shortly after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary were forced to flee with their young son from Nazareth to Egypt to escape King Herod, a tyrant. They feared persecution and death."   She goes on to ask the reader what would happen if the same were to seek refuge in modern-day America? (Answer: probably would be in a waiting room, waiting for slow bureaucracy to sort itself out.) Actual answer: we don't know.  If they used the right channels, they would be allowed into the US....

In early November , Delta Airlines began showing unedited versions of the films "Booksmart" and "Rocketman."  These unedited versions scenes include lesbian sex and masturbation.  The airline, which had previously been showing an edited version , changed their stance after director Olivia Wilde, of "Booksmart", took to Twitter to express her disgust saying: "I finally had the chance to watch an edited version of Booksmart on a flight to see exactly what had been censored. Turns out some airlines work with a third party company that edits the movie based on what they deem inappropriate. Which, in our case, is ... female sexuality?" The edited version of the film is not a form of discrimination, but rather a stance of appropriateness.  As an airline cannot control who sits next to who on a plane, it is easy to imagine a young child being exposed to what is basically pornography by just sitting next to a less than a conscientious viewer. ...

This past week, I launched a current events discussion group that goes hand-in-hand with this blog.  It's purpose is to be a platform for further discussion of politics, religion, or any other current event.  It is targeted to not be a discussion about this website, but rather for a separate discussion that everyone is participating in.  I have come to the realization that a blog is not the most beneficial for discussion, so this is a step to rectify that. I believe Pastor Douglas Wilson wrote it best, "We have noted that the foundation of every form of free government is self-government.  Fools and blockheads cannot build a free society.  We cannot govern ourselves collectively unless we know how to govern ourselves individually.  And we cannot learn self-government apart from a work of the Spirit of God."  Part of impacting the culture around us, is learning how we should act, and then from there to interact (or counteract) with the culture. To p...