The hardest thing about being a Christian, in my experience, is being a Christian—that is, a physical being from a physical world trying to follow a...
As He Is
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Sabbath Thoughts
These posts are the heart and soul of the blog—food for though on God’s Sabbath day.
Le meilleur des mondes possibles
Mr. Blackwell's fifth-grade social studies class. That's the question everyone asks, isn't it? "Where were you when it happened?" That's where I...
Not Now, Not Ever
In English, a double negative flips a sentence on its head. To say that something was "not without its challenges" is just a confusing way of...
How Much Sin Can You Handle?
Zero. The answer is zero. You can handle sin about as effectively as you can handle bullets in your vital organs—that is to say, not at all. Sin...
“Simple” and “Easy” Are Two Different Words
So are "hard" and "complicated." He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And...
Hiraeth for the Kingdom
One of my favorite things about foreign languages are the words that don't translate well. A crêpe, for instance, is not what most Americans call a...
“Precious in the Sight of the Lord Is the Death of His Saints”
I think any words I add to this story will only cheapen it, so I'll keep my part short. If you haven't already heard, this past Sunday, an assistant...
Righteousness on a Curve: When Better Isn’t Good Enough
"This class will be graded on a curve." During my time as a student, these were the eight most beautiful words in the English language. It didn't...
Salt in Your Coffee (and Other Tests of Character)
In Turkey, when the family of a prospective groom meets with the family of a prospective bride, the bride-to-be often prepares traditional Turkish...
Filling the Emptiness: 3 Steps for Beating Sins That Won’t Leave
Emptiness is a poor long-term solution. Nature won't stand for it. The air around you isn't empty, for the record. It's chock-full of molecules...
Do You Want to Be Made Well?
The pool of Bethesda was a magnet for the sick and the infirm of Jerusalem. A great and pitiful multitude lay sprawled out across its five covered...
Sighing and Crying
…and the Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh...
Your Final Hours
In 24 hours, you will be dead. No loopholes. No exceptions. No way around it. This time tomorrow, you will breathe your final breath and that will...
You Can Have Any Opinion You Like, As Long as It’s One of Ours
If there's one thing we love doing, it's promoting tolerance. I say "we," but I guess what I mean is "the recurring sentiment pervading Western...
Under the Surface
Chris Hemsworth is a hypocrite. You might recognize the 31-year-old actor from his role as the superhero Thor in Marvel's cinematic universe. Three...
The Privilege of Footwashing
Without the footwashing ceremony, the Passover service would require almost no interaction with our fellow Church members. It would be an intensely...
Lost in the Undertow
It rarely starts with something big. David was just standing on a rooftop. Achan was just following orders. Eve was just hungry. Everyone "was just"...
Learning to Walk
Finally slipping back into consciousness, my uncooperative eyelids grudgingly yielded two slits through which my listlessly wandering eyeballs...