Beyond the meme: The federal budget is nothing like your household budget.

I have heard this argument from both sides of the aisle, “Government should operate more like a household.”  Typically this is an appeal to bring our expenditures more in line with revenue which makes sense.  I agree that it is not good to run at a 45% deficit which is around what we are currently running.  However I have seen this go much further in recent months.  In talking to people the rhetoric is more heated and has become, “The government should operate EXACTLY like a household and that is how I am voting!”  The more I think about it the more I find this idea impossible, impractical and also misleading.

Why I would hate living in the Star Wars Universe

If I lived in the Star Wars Universe I would have a healthy dislike for the Force. Whether Jedi or Sith I would just not like them, here is why.

Every major war in the Universe has been fought by them. They are always fighting each other and everyone gets sucked into it. Even a cursory glance at Star Wars lore will reveal that when the Jedi and the Sith are at odds the whole universe has to suffer. It does not matter what else might be going on the Sith are seeking their Revenge and the Jedi their Return. Empires rise and fall, whole planets and ways of life are destroyed because they can’t get along.

Quotesplosion: What is the meaning of life?

Quotesplosion is where I compile a random list of quotes about a certain topic.  Mostly it is to showcase the multiplicity of opinions that humanity has to offer but I hope it does spark some honest thought as well.  The point this week is to have some fun and think a little about what matters.

The quotesplosion question is is: What is the meaning of life and how do you live a good one?

Christian Fiction: America is a Christian Nation

My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place. John 18:38

For thought we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

2 Corinthians 10:3

The Christian Fiction section at the book store has always been a oddity to me.  As a kid I would make a beeline toward it to get the latest adventure of the Cooper kids, the evangelical equivalent of the Hardy Boys, only to be disappointed that The Door in the Dragon’s Throat had no dragon in it.  I later discovered that Frank Peretti did write books with actual dragons in them but overall I felt a bit disillusioned by this section of the local book store.  These days I walk by this section and chuckle a bit.  Labeling a section Christian Fiction has got to seem a little silly to those outside the house of faith.  

Recently this section has got me wondering about my beliefs.  Was there anything that I held dear (like belief in dragons) that needed to be put to rest and placed in the fiction section of my brain.  Fiction is great but when mixed with reality can be disastrous.  I have wrestled with several issues recently but one in particular I keep running up against.  It is the fiction that America is, or ever was, a Christian nation.

Thoughts: Chick-Fil-A, biblical marriage and loving the least the last and the lost

August 1st has come and gone and I am sure that Chick-Fil-A feels really loved. I am sure that they had record one day sales.  Some places even ran out of chicken!  I am also sure that many in the LGBT community feel “put in their place” by the Christian conservative community.  Free speech may have "won" but for some reason this whole thing doesn’t feel right to me.  It seemed to me that Wednesday’s Cluck-pocalypse may have done more harm than good, if it accomplished anything at all.  Maybe I’m wrong but I have some questions jumbling in my head that I feel are important.
 

Lent is here

For dust you are and to dust you shall return - Genesis 3:19

The time is now, the Kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news. - Mark 1:15

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent.  Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the forehead of believers as a sign of repentance and mourning.  Ashes were a common sign of mourning in the Bible and are appropriate for this season.  While this is an ancient tradition, developed long ago, we can still claim it in new and fresh ways today.

God loves women and has a wonderful plan for their life too

I am writing this in response to a challenge by Rachel Held Evans.  This challenge was sparked by a statement made by John Piper.  He, and others have repeatedly stated that the God of Christianity is inherently masculine and that Christianity ought to be so as well.  You can read the original article here