Reflections on God … Man … Life
Most political commentators, whether liberal or conservative, have formed a consensus about the latest State of the Union Address: it was too long and it is not going to go down in history as memorable. What we heard is what I anticipated—the same old thing we’ve heard for five years, topped off with a hubris that leaves one shaking one’s head over how anyone can come across as that arrogant. Amidst all the foolish and/or dangerous comments and ideas in… Read more »
Gimme Shelter almost didn’t make it into theaters. It was too high budget, well made, and powerful in its message for many Hollywood types. You may ask, “Why wouldn’t Hollywood want to release a movie of such high quality?” It all had to do with the theme: it has a strong pro-life message. The director, Ron Krauss, who has a solid reputation in Tinseltown, was stunned at the resistance to the film. In his words, It’s a miracle that this… Read more »
I’ve often heard people say—and ministers of the Gospel teach—that the motives for our actions can be mixed; that is to say, when we choose to do something, we might do so both for God and for us simultaneously. In other words, our actions are partly holy in intention and partly selfish. Charles Finney disagreed with this formulation. In his Systematic Theology, he explained why: Whenever a moral being prefers or chooses his own gratification, or his own interest, in… Read more »
Modern man doesn’t like to talk much about hell, unless it’s in some fanciful movie creation where one doesn’t have to worry about its reality. The reason we avoid thinking about the possibility of hell can be traced back to our similar reluctance to consider seriously our sinfulness. And what bothers us the most, I believe, about the idea of sin is that we know the root of it is our self-centeredness. We like being self-focused; we feel justified in… Read more »
I’m in a more reflective mood today; perhaps pondering is the right word since it fits with my blog’s title. I’ve been thinking about how the society has changed in my 60+ years. Most of those changes, in the moral realm, have not been beneficial. I grew up in a small town in northern Indiana, probably not more than 3500-4000 people. I knew everyone in my high school graduating class, to one degree or another, because there were only 99… Read more »
President Obama’s approval rating continues to drop. He’s in George W. Bush territory now, with the only thing keeping him from dropping further is the fanatical loyalty of those Americans who will cling to him no matter what he does. Why has he dropped so far? If you ask him, he’ll tell you the reason is racism. In fact, he recently commented, There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea… Read more »
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, made a rather startling statement in a radio interview recently. Speaking of the nature of the Republican party—of which he apparently claims to be an expert—he said a battle is raging within the party between moderates and extremists. He identified those “extremists” in the following words: Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are, and they’re the… Read more »