MInTheGap

Who Is He Apologizing For?

Shane Claiborne has a message for all nonbelievers—Christians are the biggest bunch of hypocrites, and I’m not like them.

Read the rest of this page »

Is Your Temple Smoking?

One of the vices that Christians have recently joined the culture in protesting is that of smoking.  The scriptural passage that is invariably used to preach against smoking is the one that speaks about your body being the temple of the Holy Spirit—and that a Christian would not want to have that temple polluted with smoke.

The only problem is that the Christian is not consistent in the application of this verse, if this is the way that it should be taken, because all kinds of things that the Christian permits or does not preach as strongly against that he should.

Read the rest of this page »

Christianity and the World

The old saying goes that the church is only 10 years behind the world morally/culturally.  That was part of last night’s message looking into “respectable sins”—those sins that Christians commit that are ranked as “not bad” because “everyone does them.”

This is a charge that I’ve heard before, and I have to say that I agree with it.  If you look back through the church’s history you’ll find that the church has changed in its behavior and its standards over many years.

Read the rest of this page »

You Can’t Say That On Television

Growing up I always liked going to my grandmother’s house because she had cable and they had a show on Nickelodeon called “You Can’t Do That On Television.”  The primary gags were someone saying “I don’t know,” in which that person would get covered in slime, and “Water” which would get you covered in water.

Right now, those kinds of gags seem desirable to the media firestorm surrounding Brit Hume’s suggestion that Tiger Woods could find redemption through Christianity.

Read the rest of this page »

Atheism’s Absurd Claim

Picking up on the topic yesterday, perhaps you figured out that the scenario was meant to be equivalent to the scenario that I’ve been debating over at Christian Personal Finance about whether we should keep “In God we trust” on our bills.

Now, in that discussion I’ve attempted to remain on task, but Rex and I have left a lot of loose ends uncovered.  One of those ends is “Why are atheists so adamant about this?”

Read the rest of this page »

Keep It In Perspective

Changing your location can have a great impact on how you see things—your life, the way that you’re living.  It can help focus you and it can change your outlook.

When Elizabeth Esther took a trip to Chicago recently, she found out that a trip in a taxi helped her gain perspective on her life.

Read the rest of this page »

Ruth: A Lesson in Poverty

The Bible’s teaching on poverty could be summed up with one verse and two concepts.  In Mark 14, a woman had come to anoint Jesus for burial, and the disciples were upset at the size of the gift—it was very expensive perfume.  Posturing, the disciples suggested that the money could be sold for much money that would be useful in ministering to the poor.  Jesus’ comment, in verse 7, is that doing good to the poor is a good thing, but that you will always have the poor with you.

Read the rest of this page »