December 25, 2012

Christmas is Pagan?

Well, it certainly has its roots in the pagan tradition of Saturnalia, and the commercialism of much of modern Christmas relates only to the worship of Mammon, but the liturgical tradition we celebrate at this time of year is purely Christian.

Why in the world would I (or any other thinking person) write about this? There are a growing number of Christians who insist on keeping the Old Testament commandments. Not just using the Ten Commandments as exemplars, but in keeping the spirit, if not the letter, of the OT law. That's a great thing to do for orthodox Jews, but for Christians who live under Grace and not the Law?

December 24, 2012

It Was Not A Silent Night...

It won't be a Silent Night in Houston, Texas tonight with a strong winter storm headed this way...And it wasn't a Silent Night all those centuries ago...




While many houses will have sleeping children awaiting their presents in the morning, many houses will be filled with tears for those that are gone. Some houses will be filled with the moaning of the sick and hungry. Some will be filled with violence and shouts of anger.

December 17, 2012

Why?

The mass murder at the school in Newtown, CT on Friday has dominated the news and most of the blogs I read. Predictably, many Christian bloggers are talking about guns or mental health; political solutions to a problem that transcends politics.

I'm not going to advocate anything about those two issues in this post.

I want to go to the heart of the matter.


What kind of God would allow something like this to happen, and why?


On the surface it seems that God is at best an uncaring, absentee thought lord; allowing horrific tragedies and evils to occur, disrupting our lives, worldviews, and theologies.


But perhaps, these things are allowed to happen, not out of His apathy towards us, but out of a caring far deeper than we can comprehend.