In the Zone

Did you see the baby born with the heart outside of his body?  How about that Detroit cut off 30,000 water customers in order to build a giant water slide in town?  And did you hear that Walmart has a watch list for Christian employees? Well, none of the above statements are true.  In fact, I mined them from a website called truthorfiction.com that exists to help clarify rumors, specifically internet-based rumors, and let people know what is true and what is fiction.  With Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media, rumors spread even faster. Fake news stories look slicker than ever.  It can be hard to know the truth from a lie. In Ephesians 6:14, Paul gives us instructions on how to prepare for spiritual war.  The first thing he tells us to do is put on the belt of truth.  Now, the Armor of God is based upon Roman armor.  They wore belts to keep their clothes tight to their bodies so that in hand-to-hand combat, the enemy wouldn't g...

Recently, I read this article from the New York Times website. In the piece, Frank Bruni, writes that evangelical Christians are intolerant bigots that fly in the face of modern science, culture and sensibilities.  To paraphrase, he writes that evangelical Christians are holding back American and need to fall in line with more liberal denominations that allow gay weddings and have a new understanding of the Bible's teaching on homosexuality. He writes that the Bible was written by men who had flawed views of homosexuality, so therefore they injected their flawed views into scripture.  In his view, we should move past these views and embrace the cultural shift.  I couldn't disagree more. While I believe we, as Christians, should love and treat everyone equally, I do not believe performing and recognizing gay marriage is part of that equation.  I also believe that God's word is inspired by God.  Every word in the book was put in, protected and passed down...

In my office, I have a memento from my first minstry. An orange T-shirt, covered with signatures and names from all the kids in my first youth group at Crittenden Baptist Church, is pinned to the wall.  As I look over all the names, I can still see their faces and remember funny stories and anacedotes about each one.  It is a reminder to me of what I came from and of the memories of my first stop in ministry. In fact, I have various mementos from all of my ministry stops.  I have photos of the Florida Reach Team I served on as a recent college graduate.  I have pictures of my first youth camp with Immanuel Baptist Church.  I have a few knick-knacks, given as gifts, from my time at Gracey West Union Baptist Church. I even keep old newspaper clippings around to remind me of my time at the Grant County News. All of these inanimate objects serve to remind me of the past and testify to the work I did at those places.  Each brings back positive and negative...