Church, Culture, and Homosexuality

If I struggled with a homosexual disposition, my local churches are probably the last places I would turn to for support. Whereas Jesus Christ established the Church to provide love to a hurting world, many Christians in the last half-century have failed to love their neighbor as themselves by an unwarranted discrimination against homosexuals. They have treated this reality as a unique and unforgivable sin, and have forgotten St. Paul’s exhortation to judge not those outside of the Christian faith

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The Generation of Incredulity

Malcolm Muggeridge once said that one of the most peculiar sins of the twentieth century was the sin of credulity. He believed, as do I, that every generation has and will make the mistake of thinking that, whether by politician or philosopher, some new idea or truth has been discovered that will make our society finally progress. You can easily find examples of this today, such as Rhonda Byrne’s best-selling book The Secret, or the cultural hype over President Obama when he was sworn into Office—somehow he alone was supposed to save America, put it back on course, and then we would all watch it flourish. The former will go down in history as a great paper weight, and the latter has only been great at making promises. Whereas Muggeridge called the twentieth century an age of credulity, the twenty-first century is more like an age of incredulity suffering from a hangover. 

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Pride Will Kill You

Of all the vices that stop so many people from succeeding in life, pride is without a doubt the greatest. If Bill Clinton had told the truth, for example, about what really happened during his Presidency, he could have been forgiven, and, subsequently, moved onto greater things; the public certainly has shown a forgiving spirit. But pride has been, is, and always will be the greatest trap for any person to overcome, because it requires brutal and uncomfortable self-examination; because pride tells you that you’re greater than you really are, or were ever made to be; and because pride is many times all that you have left before you hits rock bottom—left to face the grim and sobering reality that you, nor anything other person, owns anything in this life, not even your own life.

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The Right Answers aren’t Good Enough

Every part of me as a philosophy major wants to say that I have, so far, learned a lot in my young life. There are a lot of people I want to say with conviction to, “Yes, you’re right, I do seem to know quite a bit about quite a lot for my young age.” And to be fair, I really have gone to great lengths in the last several years of my life to learn as much as I can about anything and everything. I’ve poured into authors like Chesterton, Augustine, and Boethius, Descartes and Plato; listened to a ridiculous amount of lectures on iTunes University; started arguments with people much wiser than myself only to understand their brilliant minds better; and I’ve even stormed the gates of Heaven in prayer for acceptance into the Honors program I’m now studying in. So in all fairness, I know I have an unusual thirst for knowledge.

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When I am Weak, You are Strong.

Father, you sustain all of me (Acts 17:8). There is no part of me that you are unaware of (Psalm 139:16), no part of me that you do not provide for (Matthew 6:26). You tell me not to worry about tomorrow, for you have conquered the world and every tomorrow to come (John 16:33). When I am not smart, You are. When my thoughts are unsound you guide my steps as a friend guides a blind friend (Mark 8:22).

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Goodness needs no God?

Some of the most moral and kindest people I know don’t believe in God. Or, as Christopher Hitchens would call it, a supernatural entity. The plain truth is that atheists, anti-theists and agnostics can all be good without ever positing a belief in God. They can and do lead lives of generosity, charity and even forgiveness without ever bowing their mind or knee to a divine origin. And even as a Christian, I am thankful when those who don’t recognize God live out lives of goodness rather than badness. Without question, I prefer atheistic Sweden’s current state of peace to any theistic country’s state of violence.

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Why Modern Man Is Lost: Part 1

Today’s modern man is lost because of one ostensible reason: he searches for a home while denying he ever had one to begin with. Now, before I go any further it’s likely necessary to answer the question of why man ever needed to belong to a home in the first place before he can ever find one to end with. Can’t man fight wars in search of something? Well, he can, but he would be a fool. Man can only fight wars, and rightly so, for a thing which he intimately knows and loves before he ever draws his weapon. The Civil War wasn’t fought in search of whether racism was wrong, but because they believed it was. Fighting wars in search of something is bold, but boldly reckless, and must ultimately give way to that thing we call imperialism. Searching for a spiritual home is bold, but is just as reckless, and must ultimately give way to spiritual imperialism. If man is to have any spiritual home, he is, instead, to return to it.

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Seeing Through the Eye

When I was a kid, it took only a few simple things to ignite my imagination. Stepping out my door to leave the house was then enough for me, because I still saw the world with a wild and pure heart. How incredible it was and felt just to run through grass and jump over a fence! As I grew older, something ostensibly changed. I don’t mean anything trivial, or even expected, for that matter. No, this was a change that would alter not a part of me but the entirety of me. It was less like the afternoon sun setting and more like a total eclipse of that bright and burning heap of fire.

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Understanding Cultural Confusion: Christian Virtue and Homosexuality

One of the most, if not altogether greatest, undiscussed issues in Christianity today is the modern dilemma of homosexuality: “Is a person born with this desire, or do they have a choice at all in the matter?” “Further, can a homosexual be a Christian?” The way in which the Christian answers these two specific question reveals a considerable amount of their understanding of our sinful nature and God’s design for our lives. Not only is this true, but it will also determine whether Christians can coherently explain their moral position on this issue to those outside of their faith, and thus be culturally relevant where it counts. 

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Searching for Meaning In the Midst of Pain

While only 23 years old, I’ve learned a great deal about suffering in my own life. Some suffering because of the mistakes I’ve made all my own, and some suffering because of events I’ve simply had no control over. The last few years, however, have been relatively pain free for me; I’m thankful to God for that season. Within the last two weeks, however, I’ve watched close friends and family suffer some of the worst pain a family could ever fear. As I begin to experience the reality of suffering once again with those around me, I’m ever reminded of God’s ultimate purpose for our own personal pain: that we would find our true meaning in God—our friend, King, and journey’s end. 

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