Observations within Christian subculture in South Orange County. What does Jesus and SOC have in common?
From the beginning of time, gold has held an almost magical hold on people. Since the time of the Pharaohs, this yellow metal was used as a form of currency, as well as to adorn the capstones on the pyramids of Giza. In grade school we learned about the Egyptian royal burial of King Tut…
We were bought at a high price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). And now as Christ followers, we do not belong to ourselves (1 Cor 6:19). Rather, we deny ourselves (Mt 16:24) and we die to ourselves (Jn 3:3-6), making no provision for the flesh (Rom 13:14). We have no rights over ourselves as if we…
I read this paragraph in Steinbeck’s East of Eden and it wrecked me, in a good way. This pericope reminds me of how children innately see their parents as immortal beings impervious to corruption, as well as to the constellation of cracks that take place in their porcelain little minds when they realize that their…
I can’t think of anything more offensive to God than the all-too-common slogan “It’s just business.” Someone may respond back: “Well, what about saying ‘I don’t believe in God’?” True, existential atheism is a problem. However, treating people unjustly is an offense to God’s character; it’s practical atheism, in that one could be a believer…
(1) Expecting things in your life to go perfectly. Yes, you were made for eternity. That’s why you seek perfection, desire beauty, and hunger for unending happiness. But we live in an imperfect, ugly, and forlorn world because of sin. So when things don’t go your way or when things get you down or when…
Sin is a form of self-harm, some might even say, self-hatred. For example, when a man is not a good husband, and, say, repeatedly commits adultery, he not only hurts his wife and children, but also his own wellbeing. Put differently, by fulfilling his role as a faithful husband, who models his loving actions to…
You were made for fulfillment! But that’s not the same thing as saying you were made for pleasure. Pleasure, however, is not a bad thing. Matter-of-fact, pleasure can be the natural consequence of eating a satiable meal or spending quality-time with an ole friend or behaving virtuously. The kind of pleasure that gets a bad…
From the dark abyss of suffering was born my book Biblical Ethics. Five years ago, the last thing on my mind was writing a book on how to live a morally happy, flourishing life. I was deep in the throes of a PhD program when the walls of my intellectual ivory tower came crashing down….
Ron Arko was my spiritual father, my Paul and my Barnabas, always encouraging me, my writings, and my blog posts. He was always there for me when I needed him. The irony is that I need him here right now to help me get through his going home. You stepped onto the battlefield, while others…