The man sat cross-legged on the sidewalk next to the gas station, a small backpack by his side. He evidently hadn’t had access to a shower in a while. A woman with three boys walked past him. “If you’re looking for the restrooms,” said the man, pointing, “they’re over there.” The woman thanked him and hurried off, nervous about interacting with a homeless stranger. As she and her kids walked back toward their car, she heard a familiar, still, small voice. “I want you to go talk to that man.” For a moment, she balked, but quickly realized arguing with God is never a great Continue Reading
5 Christian clichés we could probably live without
“Sarah” was confused. She hadn’t been in church circles very long, so when someone started talking about “pouring into” someone else, she couldn’t quite wrap her brain around what that meant. Sarah is far from alone. Many unchurched people, or new believers, find themselves having to learn a whole new set of terms once they start hanging out with Christians. Yup, we have our own subculture, including special lingo some refer to as “Christianese.” I define Christianese as terminology which Christians invent and repeat rather than as terms right out of the Bible. Terms like Continue Reading
Why certainty about your theology isn’t always a good thing
At first, it seemed like a bad case of the flu, but then his joints became painfully inflamed. The culprit was rheumatoid arthritis. People from church came over and prayed for him. He went to a big tent revival-style healing meeting and got prayer there, too. As time went on and my father was not healed of arthritis, the folks at church began to wonder what sin he must have committed to deserve such punishment. At that point, my mother remarked, “Our friends are like Job’s comforters!” God has given human beings the gift of a brilliant mind. He has also revealed a great deal Continue Reading
One helpful thing to remember when circumstances look serious
The two figures in the kayak push away from the floating dock and commence paddling along the lake shore. Scott grins. “When Jed and Rebecca get back,” he says, “I’m going to ask them how their marriage enrichment exercise went.” Allow me to hit rewind to let you in on the joke. Years previous to this recent vacation with our son and daughter-in-law, Scott and I borrowed a canoe from friends and embarked on what shall forever be known as the Great Canoeing Disaster. If I recall correctly, I was seated in the front and Scott in the back. We had a little trouble syncing our Continue Reading