The other day, my grandmother sent me an email. I always read her emails, but I very rarely pass them on. I’m just not the chain-email kind of guy.
This one, though, is too good to stop with me. It had a bunch of text format and smileys, but I erased them. The message is too important to have other things distract from it.
I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up.
I asked God …

The historical truth of the bible is used by God to illustrate the larger spiritual principles that flow through it. While most religious books are collections of philosophy, moral principles, and ethical issues, the Bible is something much greater. It packs a greater wallop because God’s superintendence of the included history confirm the spiritual truths that He wished to communicate. In short, God has been operating this world in such a way that He might speak to us with and without words, showing us instead of just telling us.

You don’t know what you’re asking of someone when you ask them to be a Christian. You are asking them, as Jesus did to his disciples, to leave the safety of their world. You are asking them to drop everything they have, everything they are doing, and join with you as you pursue Christ. Community is inherent in this and every religion. You are taking them from one place, from one way of life, from one social circle, from one mindset, from one reality, and firmly placing them in a …

“There will always be salt in the ocean’s waters. And as many times as the waves crash upon the sand, so does the salt recede again with the tides. But a little bit of salt still seeps into the sand. To many, it remains invisible, hiding itself in the works of sand castles and the bliss of children’s play. Seemingly harmless, but it’s presence is there. However when the glassmith goes to mold a creation, he doesn’t intend to leave the sand in it’s present state of impurity. If Christ …

I have grown in ways that I can’t describe over the course of this summer. I have gone through highs and lows of faith and obedience, crashing waves of doubt and insecurity, and incredible experiences that gave me more clarity than any textbook or Wikipedia article ever could. I have compiled a list of the jewels of wisdom I have received from my experiences with God over the summer. It’s already hard for me to remember the person that I was before this summer.

Alas, the sense of community that a common faith brings to a people spelled trouble for me. In time, my religious doings went from the notice of those to whom it didn’t matter and only amused, to that of those to whom it did matter—and they were not amused. “What is your son doing going to temple?” asked the priest. “Your son was seen in church crossing himself,” said the imam. “Your son has gone Muslim,” said the pandit. Yes, it was all forcefully brought to the attention of my …

All you hippies who are looking to catalyze a change in society, look no further. There is someone I know who is a social revolutionary in the most extreme sense of the word. Counterculture, man. Seriously. Dude is an absolute god in my book. Here, read one of the snips about him turning the tables on money-grubbing thieves.
15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers …

So when I was a freshman in high school, I was introduced to a girl in a chatroom. She was a friend of a friend, and we hit it off instantly. Well, we talked for several months and we got extremely close. We decided that the fact that we lived approximately a million times infinity miles apart wouldn’t stop us from dating. I “dated” this girl I had never met for a year or so. We talked online every night for hours and hours, and we fell deeply in love. …

I remember growing up and receiving my sacraments. I don’t believe that they held any special power, but I know that they are well-intended and have done a lot of good for a lot of people.
I remember sitting in a dark, dark closet that was divided by a screen. Then, I knew it only as a beautiful symbol. You are inside the confessional. You are weighed down by the utter shame of the week’s sins. You are in darkness, and you are afraid of the words that are about …

What they will tell you is that a God so great cannot be contained in something as worthless as a body.
What I will tell you is that my God is so great that He could overcome the limitations of a worthless body.
He is so disciplined that He allowed us to remove Him from His body, manually. He literally had the flesh ripped off of His soul, and the Soul was so great that it pulled the flesh back together. That is the mystery of the resurrection. If bodies are …