My mother told me: never discuss religion or politics. That is about all I talk about.
Apologetics Applied How useful is apologetics, making a systematic and reasoned defense for your faith? I’ve always loved the practice, since it combines the way my mind works, helps answer difficult questions for me, and is useful in arguments. I think it is that last part that raised the question of how useful a working knowledge of apologetics may be. Winning an argument with someone is not... 
Not having blogged here seriously for a long time, I am not going to apologize for that now. You may find some of the reasons if you read between the lines- or maybe not. warning: this may turn into a long post. it will certainly go deeper than I have on this blog for a long time. you may not want to read what I have to say. don’t say I didn’t warn you How did I find myself inspired to write... 
The church I attend has started interest groups that serve to connect people who are called to, or now involved within one of the “seven mountains of influence”. This idea is based from a teaching that seems to have originated in 1975, from Campus Crusade and Youth With A Mission leaders. I was not very informed about it until recently (and still not well versed), but it is an interesting way... 
I used to work so hard at my faith. That is not a value judgment, just a statement of fact. Not sure that it could be otherwise, given the set of circumstances that made up “me” at the beginning of my personal walk with God. It didn’t need to be quite as hard as I made it, though. Today, I am aware of how much that has changed, and how I seem to be flowing in an almost effortless stream... 
For some reason I have been looking at the culture that for many years I simply took for granted. Christian culture as it has taken on its form from American Church. Much of it I have to admit to not really liking. This is not an expose, or a critical essay, not at all. I love the meetings and the worship, the instruments and singing, I love a good sermon. But there is a lot of hype and flash, and a false... 
I find it tragic that we have moved from being merely cavalier about making everything disposable to becoming empty users of other people. We have whole segments of our society that we consider nothing more than something to use up and then throw away. As though a soul is no more than an old tissue. Wipe up and toss. And right now I am thinking of the “we” as Christians. God knows the painful... 
Inspired by reading Joe Carter @ First Things, “Are Evangelicals the New Mainline?“. He shared a point from Rodney Stark : …one keeps hearing about the “mainline” denominations and this “periphery” called evangelicalism. Well, the periphery is now the mainline, and the mainline is the sideline. Which got me thinking. Is the Church going “Right” or “Left”, and... 
I just had an experience that I thought I would comment on, not because it is new, but because though it has happened enough in the past it gave me a minute of pause and I decided to write about it. It goes like this: You pray for someone/something you said you would or that you had on your heart, and felt confidence on all counts (faith, scriptural support, heart fervency, etc) – all those things... 
I came across a discussion of the Greek word translated “daily” in the Lord’s Prayer, epiousion. Via Challies, the article, “How Do We Define Biblical Words?” pointed out that this particular segment of the Lord’s prayer had some controversy surrounding it. That was news to me, though years ago another part of the Lord’s prayer, “lead me not into... 
More about the core self, because that post, ‘The Best of Me‘ needs clarification and more thinking. The idea that we get wrong ideas, and then perpetuate them, about who we really are has been one of those swirling, vague, and just out of reach concepts for me. The light just dawning as I enter my sunset season. I don’t mourn my late entry into this concept since enlightenment has its... 
People love, and need, to compartmentalize their time, interests, and efforts. It is how we make sense of things. But sometimes the compartments disguise reality, or the true nature of things. Take the way we schedule ourselves. I’m the worst when it comes to this… there is homeschool, housework,yard, computer, church…. stuff. Sometimes one gets the lionshare of whatever resource I can... 
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ~ Matthew 5:4 What do you think of as the “blessed” life? Do you picture the American Dream… a large house, new clothes, a nice suburban family life? Or is it a satisfied ambition, fulfilled talents and dreams, good health? Is it a life with few regrets? A feeling of happiness? What is the Blessed Life? How great the contrast... 
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Nicholas Christakis, a physician and social scientist at Harvard, found when examining data from a long-term study of the residents of Framingham, Mass., health habits can be as contagious as a cold virus. By his calculation, a Framingham individual’s chances of becoming obese shot up by 57 percent if a friend became obese. -People Who Forget To Die
0Through Liz’s Example 
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass … it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”0
This is the bible study I did last summer- I recommend it. Esther Leader's Kit: It's Tough Being a Woman
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