Always Reforming

Love is a back-rub. Love is an ear bent. Love is a late-night run to pick up specialty ice cream. Love is a sacrifice made. Love is an apology sincerely given. Love is a pile of clean dishes next to the sink. Love is a tear-soaked shoulder. Love is a word spoken in season. Love is a monotonous 9-to-5 faithfully attended. Love is a pleasure foregone. Love is a load of laundry done. Love is a cheesy movie watched without critical remarks. Love is a promise kept. Love is a failure forgiven. Love is an achy back and calloused hands. Love is a decision. Love is a commitment. Love is a back-rub with no expectation of reciprocation.

It's a sad thing to realize that your hair is going to fall out. It's a morbid thing to realize that your teeth are all going to rot right in your face. It's a maddening thing to realize that your eyes will cease to serve a purpose as they refuse to allow light into your brain. It's a frightening thing to realize that your ears will no longer enable you to hear the voices of your children and the melodies of your favorite bands. It's a morose thing to understand that your body will one day be nothing more than the dust beneath the feet of future generations. It's depressing when you grasp the truth that the only thing in this life that can arrest the ever-accelerating decline into immobility and madness is death itself. It's almost unbearable to consider that the only true escape from entropy is a premature death. It's nice to know that flesh and blood does not exhaust my person. It's peaceful to know that my head will be covered not ...

Hello.  My name is Josiah.  I am a contrarian. "What is a contrarian?" you ask.  A contrarian is someone who likes going against the grain.  A contrarian is someone who disagrees with everyone just because agreeing with other people is boring and cliche.  A contrarian believes, whether he knows it or not, that harmony is overrated and accord is too easy. As I said, I am by nature a contrarian.  It's a struggle every day, but I'm better than I used to be,  I hope. So, how do you know if you're a contrarian?  Here are 10 signs that indicate that you just might be a contrarian. 1) If your first response to being called a contrarian is vehement denial, you're probably a contrarian. 2) If you only comment on Facebook posts with which you disagree, you're probably a contrarian. 3) If you use the mad face emoji twice as much as the like and love emojis combined, you're probably a contrarian. 4) If find a way to disagree with other people e...

Less than a mile from my house there stands a church.  Well, actually, there are about a dozen churches within that radius, but this tale is about one in particular.  I will leave the exact name/affiliation of this church undisclosed, but, let me assure you, it is one of those churches with a very interesting name that belongs to an extremely obscure denomination.  This small church would hardly be noticeable if not for its controversial sign, which reads, "Church after God's Own Heart."  That, my friends, is quite a claim!  This claim would seem to indicate that they view their worship and polity as, for lack of a better word, perfect.  It carries with it the implication that they view all other churches as not after God's own heart.  You can almost see the pride oozing out of the sign.  I can respect the desire to shape your church as closely as possible to God's design for Christ's body, but it's hard to swallow the claim that one has actually ...