Whether or not you have a golden calf hanging out in your backyard, you are an idolater. So am I. Pastor Brad Bigney defines an idol this way: “An idol is anything or anyone that begins to capture our hearts and minds and affections more than God.” This means that a pagan deity, a number … Continue reading For My Fellow Approval Junkies
Category: Spiritual Growth
Are You Satisfied?
Which Disney princess are you? Which Hogwarts house would you be sorted into? What’s your Enneagram number? What’s your love language? Questions like these suck us in because we love personality tests. Or, more accurately, we love finding out about ourselves. We find it endlessly fascinating to delve into our own psyches and try to … Continue reading Are You Satisfied?
A One-Flavor Fountain
What do you do if you’re held hostage in the stomping grounds of a big-time war hero whom you defeated against the longest of odds? No SWAT team is on its way; and, in fact, the leader of your home country would like nothing more than to see these enemies do you in. How will … Continue reading A One-Flavor Fountain
Prayer Requests for a Critical Heart
I promise I’m not critical. I just happen to know how to do things the right way, and I want to use my gift of correct-ness to help others. Is that so bad? Actually, it is. And, actually, I am critical. From grammatical errors in the book I’m reading to what songs we should sing … Continue reading Prayer Requests for a Critical Heart
Worse Than Trading Away Babe Ruth…
Have you ever heard of the musical No, No, Nanette? Probably not. How about Babe Ruth? Even non-baseball fans recognize that name. Surely any team would do whatever they could to keep arguably the greatest player in the history of baseball on their team, even if it meant trading away everyone else. Apparently, the Boston … Continue reading Worse Than Trading Away Babe Ruth…
Self-Controlled to the Glory of God
Read through Paul’s letter to Titus, and you’ll notice that one word pops up several times (1:8, 2:2, 2:5, 2:6). The English word varies with translations: discreet (KJV, NKJV), sensible (NASB), or self-controlled (ESV, CSB, NIV). Usually when a word in Scripture has several English renderings, the word in the original language has a breadth … Continue reading Self-Controlled to the Glory of God
A Word to My Fellow Cynics
My name is Cindy, and I’m a cynic. I assume every holistic health product is a scam; if a deal sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is; and though I hope it doesn’t happen, I assume my favorite sports team will blow it on the big stage (if they even make it … Continue reading A Word to My Fellow Cynics
You Might Be a Stingy Forgiver If…
The name Ebenezer Scrooge has become synonymous with the concept of stinginess. The protagonist in the Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge, though a wealthy man, refuses to share his wealth or to enjoy it. He scoffs at the notion of donating to charity and rations his coal so that his employee Bob Cratchit … Continue reading You Might Be a Stingy Forgiver If…
Court Is Adjourned
Though I enjoy legal fiction in all its forms—books, movies, television—I have only set foot in an actual courtroom on one occasion: jury duty. Not surprisingly, the courtroom bore little resemblance to the Hollywood depictions. I sat in the gallery, observing the voir dire proceedings with waning interest, wondering if pregnancy would be an acceptable … Continue reading Court Is Adjourned
The Good Life in 2022 (Part 2)
A quick Twitter search of #blessed will yield literally hundreds, if not thousands, of results. Scrolling through these will give you an idea of how popular culture thinks of being blessed. In the brief time I looked at these Tweets, I found shout-outs for homemade beef barley soup, Christian country music, a life that is … Continue reading The Good Life in 2022 (Part 2)
Bible Study Nerd 