Month: August 2019

Are we Co-Signing on the Mass Institutionalization of Our Children?

You can’t be on both sides of the fence: what is in our bodies is our choice, our responsibility, and ours alone. Yet, many of those same babies are given over for up to 10 hours a day to be someone else’s responsibility instead of the mother’s. Is that reasonable? ... If mothers knew they would have to be the one to care for their own children for the first year or two or three, would that change the number of births or pregnancy terminations? If mass daycare and mass abortion were not booming, money-making industries, do you think people would give more thought to whether or not to get pregnant and have a child?

Testing My Christianity: Homelessness and My Own Dad

My dad died a few years ago. He had been chronically homeless for most of the last three decades. ... He looked pretty good - clean and imminently lovable. ... Yet he still went back to drinking and the streets almost immediately when he got the chance. What do you do with that? What can anyone do with that? My faith, my prayer life, my convictions - all of it has been tested - as I watched my dad’s destructive lifestyle choices drag on. Only God’s grace, love and forgiveness could give me what I needed to not only endure, but ...

‘Good Boys’ Movie: Who Signed Off On This Cruel Extinction of Childhood?

Why are these kids being exploited like this? They are clearly out of their element and rightly so - sex toys, drugs, and foul language are used as a hammer to pound the audience. In fact, the desensitization of our youth has reached new heights. How was this allowed to happen? Writers, casters, directors, marketers, producers, parents … was there anyone who gave thought to those boys as people; as young impressionable children in need of guidance? Were they sold out for the almighty dollar? ... Defenders of the movie point out that the trailer shows the innocence and naivety of the boys having no idea what the sex toys are, who the porn stars are married to, and what the drug life is really about. Yet, for us to watch as these young actors are mentally and emotionally raped by the infringement of adult issues - crass, gutter, immoral, excessive adult issues - is a monumental travesty. ... We must not sit idly by and watch this mass extinction of childhood.

In the Aftermath of Tragedy, Prayer Remains First and Most Powerful Response

Reactions to violent mass shootings, most recently in Texas and Ohio, begin with shock and horror, but inevitably find their way over to anger. ... Yet, despite all the feelings we wrestle with, a longing to call out to God often finds its way in; whether shouted in anger and desperation or pushed out between tears and guttural cries. We are made to connect with He who created us. We are hardwired to call out in the worst of times. Even many who profess themselves agnostic - or even atheist - have found themselves calling out to the Being which they spent years or decades denying even existed.

Testing My Christianity: The First To Speak Seems Right … Why Is the Truth So Hard to Find?

Getting to the root cause leads to personal responsibility and determination of blame. Yes, blame. Although it has become a buzz-word and a cue to become insulted and hurt, blame is merely a word that means to assign responsibility for a fault or wrong. This should be no surprise, since we all sin and do wrong. Without acknowledging our faults, wrongs, and mistakes, we would be unable to apologize, make amends, grow our character, and learn from them.