Posts that contain content related to living a Christian life.
For this second episode of the podcast, we visit a question submitted at a camp Teen Bible Study many years ago that went unanswered at the time: If scientists are able to “create” a pig that chews the cud, is it clean to eat? It may not seem a question of cosmic importance, but diving into the topic generates a lot more worthwhile principles than you might think!
The Church published a fantastic sermon by Mr. Rod McNair that he gave a couple of years ago here in Charlotte titled “What Cause Are You Fighting For?” that is really helpful in helping us find perspective. He emphasized that we live in a world in which people are not only rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while the ship is going down—they are fighting over who owns the chairs.
Every once in a while, when I asked my mom a question about the Bible, she would think for a minute, and give me an answer that sort of made sense to me, but not really. I would respond with another question, and she would go “Hmmmm” for a second, before saying, “I’m not sure, honestly. We might have to ask a minister about that one.”
That used to startle me—and frustrate me a little, too. “What?! Mom doesn’t even know?! But she’s supposed to be the Bible genius! She went to Ambassador College! They were supposed to teach her everything! What madness is this?!”
Read moreBefore I was in the ministry, I worked for an online retailer. During my first year-and-a-half at the company, I managed the customer service department. We hired mostly young people in their late teens and early twenties. For many of them, it was their first job after finishing high school or college.
Over the course of hiring for the various customer service positions, I received many resumes. Some were creative and others were simple records of education and previous experience.
Read moreHe Who Is Cursed To Kill All The Plants learns a little something from an innovation in the pot of his bonsai tree…
I have a book with some thoughts from stoic philosophers that I look through occasionally. The Stoics weren’t perfect, and the extremes of some of their thinking were off. But the best of them did not fit many of the stereotypes we read. One of them, Seneca, is often thought to have been a friend of the Apostle Paul, and ancient letters they supposedly exchanged are out there, but most good accounts hold that the letters are fakes.
That said, something I read this morning caught my eye. By one man’s translation, Seneca once wrote “There is no vice which lacks a defense.” The rest of the quote goes into how it is easier to tackle bad habits early in life instead of later, and that would be a great post for another time. But this is the part that grabbed my attention, and it is very biblical.
Read moreWe were reflecting on how “exciting” things are online these days and remembered that there are several articles the church has published that tackle the subject of How To Be Online Without Destroying Your Character Or Your Brain™. Two came to mind that we wanted to pass on.
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Tomorrow’s World