Always Reforming

Race wars.  Rioting.  Protests. COVID-19.  Masks.  Vaccines. Sex trafficking.  Jeffrey Epstein.  Pizzagate. Conspiracy theories have absolutely dominated the Internet in 2020, and they seem to be coming from both sides of the aisle.  Is Bill Gates trying to push mandatory vaccines and depopulate the world?  Are cops starting the riots?  Did the government release footage of aliens?  It seems like each new day brings another major scandal uncovered by Internet bloggers. It would be a mistake to believe that conspiracy theories are a new phenomenon.  In fact, history is replete with tall tales and legends of dirty deeds done by elitists behind closed doors.  The Internet, as it normally does, has simply provided a new platform for the proliferation of such theories.  Much like the printing press, the Internet has given a voice and sense of legitimacy to people and ideas that once languished in darkness.  This ex...

There has been much talk lately about systemic racism.  There have been protests and riots and talks of defunding the police.  From no-knock warrants to knee-to-the-neck techniques, the training and accountability of police departments throughout our nation have come under intense scrutiny.  The multitude is screaming for change, but the movement seems to be tainted by Marxism and anti-Western sentiment.  What are we to think? I'm not here to say whether systemic racism exists.  With the historical and modern examples of injustice against blacks and other people groups, it seems logical to affirm that there is an element of truths to these claims.  On the other hand, not every injustice against a black person is racially motivated, nor is systemic racism the answer to every inequality between different cultures and classes in our society, so we should be careful not to push that narrative past the limits of facts and reason.  This is a conversation t...

Dear Aimee, I don't really know you.  I know of you, but I can't say that we are even really acquaintances.  We're friends on Facebook, but that doesn't really mean much when you have as many Facebook friends as we do.  I don't know that we have ever really interacted online.  Though I am aware of them, I have never read your books or listened to your podcasts. I suspect you are wondering who I am.  I am a member of Genevan Commons.  I am not an admin.  I am not a founding member.  I am not a pastor or an elder in a local church.  I am just a guy who found his face and name, and even the name of my employer, on a website created for the purpose of displaying screenshots from this private Facebook group.  I can only assume that you participated in and/or approved of the creation of this website.  Forgive me if I am incorrect in my assumption.  Furthermore, my name is also featured one of the threads shown in your recent blog...

Feb 3rd, 1959 is immortalized as The Day the Music Died.  The nation mourned and the course of history was altered as the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper tragically crashed.  That day will long be remembered in musical and cultural history.  May 25th, 2020 may prove to be even more significant.  That was the day that George Floyd died at the hands of four members of the Minneapolis PD.  In a year defined by social and political unrest, Floyd's death may prove to be the event that changes our nation, and the world, forever.  Sparking riots and an onslaught of social media virtue-signalling, May 25th, 2020 may go down as The Day Tolerance Died .  Tolerance has been on life support for sometime now.  Liberals are champions of so-called tolerance and acceptance, but they are really fighting for confirmation and reassurance of their worldview.  Dissenting voices must be silenced.  The mainstream media is ope...

Social media is really frustrating right now.  On one side you have racists.  On the other side you have racists.  In the murky middle ground you have racists trying to convince everyone that they're not racists.  Behind it all you have the racists in the media with their inordinate preoccupation with fomenting racial tension. Racism, historically speaking, was the belief in separate human races as a result of the evolutionary process.  Eventually this developed into the idea that certain races were superior or inferior to others, which, in turn, became a justification for mistreating members of other "races," climaxing in atrocities like the Holocaust. The Bible, however, rejects the concept of race, instead using terms like tribes, peoples, nations, and tongues (languages) to distinguish between different people groups.  The Biblical answer to the problem of racism, then, is to understand that all mankind is part of the one human race, united by our ...

Miracles. God incarnate. Angels and demons. Visions and prophecies. Creation ex nihilo. The Holy Spirit indwelling the people of God. The Bible is full of stories and ideas that are offensive to modern, naturalistic sensibilities.  This should come as no surprise, of course, as the Bible is the story of God's creation and redemption of mankind.  It is a supernatural book.  Acceptance of the Bible, and of the religion it sets forth, requires a belief in the supernatural. For most people this is a given.  It should be a given.  Why, then, does modern Christianity try so hard to avoid sounding superstitious?  Why do we attempt to make our religion, and our Scriptures, palatable to the world by toning down the supernatural nature of our beliefs?  Why do we de-emphasize the miraculous nature of our faith and downplay the spiritual realities that transcend our five senses? Modern Christians often look back with scorn upon the sacramentalism ...

Another day, another black man dead at the hands of the police. The well-warranted response has unequivocally condemned the misdeeds of the four officers involved and called for their prosecution.  Social media is replete with calls for action, for change, for justice.  Our nation is in an uproar once again. As a white man, situations like this leave me sad and confused.  I never know quite how to react.  I know that, first of all, we need to make sure that we don't conflate all stories of violence against black men.  Each story is unique and needs to be viewed individually.  We may notice the pattern that these stories demonstrate, but we need to acknowledge every victim and every perpetrator.  We need to weigh the evidence in each and every case. I also know that the problem of police brutality is not exclusively a racial issue.  I am willing to acknowledge that police brutality towards black men may be disproportionate, but the reality i...