Always Reforming

Abortion. The sexual revolution. The advancement of the LGBT agenda. The subjectivity of morality. Open hostility to Christianity and the Bible. Despite what some people may tell you, these things are not new.  They are not novel.  These ideas and attitudes have existed throughout history in many different parts of the world.  The historical novelty is a nation acknowledging the true God and conforming their laws to His.  Again, despite what you've been told, this was largely the condition of our country at the time of its inception.  It is certain that there were many ideals and beliefs that formed the foundation of this melting pot we call the United States of America, but it is undeniable that a large contribution was made by Christianity and its values.  We were, in many ways, a Christian nation, or, at least, a nation of Christians. This is why we got complacent. It was easy to be a Christian.  It was normal to be a Christian and eve...

So...Taylor Swift released a new song.  Entitled " You Need to Calm Down ," it is an anthem befitting our postmodern age.  It celebrates the liberty, no, the superiority of the LGBTQ (I refuse to add any more letters to that acronym) community, condescendingly telling "conservatives" that they need to calm down.  The most controversial lyric, and sure to be the favorite of LGBTQ proponents, is, "And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate, Cause shade never made anybody less gay." Now, let me begin by saying that I have traditionally enjoyed T-Swift's music.  She and I are birthday twins (we were born the same exact day, 12/13/89), so I feel like I have an excuse.  I wasn't a huge fan of her pure country music, but I began to enjoy her music as she ventured more into the pop realm.  Though I was disappointed in the sensual nature of a few of the songs on her most recent album, I still appreciated a majority of the album.  She...

A permit?  A permit?  Really?  A permit? Doesn't that sound sort of totalitarian to anyone else? I work in an industry in which we interact often with our local and state health departments.  Several of the major services that we provide require us to get a permit from the local health department.  The local officials are occasionally genuine, but they are almost always condescending and almost never have respect for private property as such. In the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, a homeowner is required to get a permit  before doing almost anything to his property.  Some localities are worse than others, but they are all required by state and federal authorities to restrict the citizens' freedoms in meaningful ways. How did we get here?  How did we get to the point where we allow government officials to require us to let them permit us to drill a well or build a house? How did "Give me or liber...

Liberalism. Sexual immorality. Hypocrisy. Worldliness. Unbelief. Apostasy. Compromise. These crises are not novel, even among the communion of the saints.  The study of Church history--the honest study, at least--reveals many sordid chapters in the story of Christ's body.  The Church has always been imperfect.  She has always been a work in progress.  She has always had her ups and downs, her steps forwards and back, her moments of shame, or perhaps, her shamelessness. What does this mean to the Christian?  Why should this motivate the Christian to study Church history?  Well, this reality should actually be encouraging.  As we witness the continual decline of the theological and moral standards of the Church, this checkered past should remind us that we have not passed a point of no return.  The sexual revolution has not conquered the Church.   God has not abandoned His plan for His elect.  Technology and Science, t...

You know what's annoying? People. People and the Internet. Mostly people on the the Internet. We are all crisis-mongers anymore.  It's like we're happy to see a mass murder or a botched abortion,  as if the horrors we purport to oppose bring us a twisted sort of glee. We're all capitalists--we're quick to capitalize on a crisis!  Like ferocious felines we crouch, ready to pounce, always eager to exploit pain and tears. School shooting--20 dead! The virtue signaling and political maneuvering pervade social media for about three days.  After that we forget and go back to watching Game of Thrones and eating bonbons (what, I ask, is a bonbon?). We decry Donald Trump because CNN showed us a smug kid wearing a MAGA hat (but, surprise, surprise...there was more to the story). We attack blacks, gays, and liberals because some black, gay, liberal actor staged a hate crime. We denounce Antivaxxers because some kids in New York got the measles (Heaven forbi...

My eyes, riddled with rivulets of red, burst open. "What a dream..." Relief washed away the terror like ocean waves bathing a battered shoreline. I have long been given to dental nightmares, but the dream that haunted me that night was abnormally vivid.  There I lay, reclining in a dentist's chair, bright lights scorching my corneas.  Over me stood a menacing figure, liveried in white.  Embroidered on his chest was "Dr. Butcher, D.D."  He forced his metal implements into my mouth, extracting my teeth one by one.  With each groan and gush of blood, another tooth fell to the floor.  My cries went unheeded as he plucked away in his ruthless rage. Now awake, I slid out of bed, grateful to be back among the conscious.  I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my weary face.  Something felt amiss.  Having left my glasses beside my bed, I squinted as I leaned into the mirror, my mouth agape. "No..." I rubbed my eyes and ...

Over the last two weeks the Internet has been abuzz with news of the final season of Game of Thrones.  Some have hailed GoT as a cinematic masterpiece, while others have labeled it as pornography.  Some have warned of the graphic nature of the show, whiles others have ardently defended their Christian freedom to watch it.  Many have fallen somewhere in the middle. As I've seen so many Christians express their enjoyment of GoT, and even recommend it to other people, I have been a little disheartened.  The issue has sort of stuck in the back of my mind as I try to think of how to engage with my fellow believers on this topic in an edifying way.  The other night, as I prayed the Lord's Prayer with my daughters before bed, I thought, "How can a Christian pray 'Lead me not into temptation,' and choose to watch GoT (maybe we need to get back to praying the Lord's Prayer!)?  How can we genuinely pray this petition and then turn around and place temptation before...