When I was a child, my parents took me to a local race track with a communal urinal full of yellowed ice and the fetid bugs that had fallen from the fluorescent frivolity [...]
In recent years, I've come to see anti-semitism as what it is: a malignant undercurrent that occasionally manifests in horrible ways but never really goes away. [...]
For years, I was taught offending other people is sinful, citing verses like Romans 14:21 and 2 Corinthians 6:3. I learned Christians are supposed to be each others' morality police; if the herd says we should or shouldn't do something because they like it or don't, we should obey so we do not sin by offending their sensibilities. [...]
Recently, Clara and I enjoyed a long-overdue vacation. Part of our trip included some classic tourist trappings, and we found ourselves milling about in large crosswalk [...]
Last week, a reader sent a post from a Dallas-area mom and author who had a shift in perspective about her daughter wearing bikinis. You should go read it. Seriously, [...]
“When you put on your Christian garb, you become an heir, on the same level as all the other heirs. Men and women are equal as children of God.” This is basically [...]
We’ve covered all sorts of topics here, from the general site motif of sexuality to the entertainment value of foam weaponry. Christian life is far from boring, and [...]
Well, finding broad commands to not curse was surprisingly more difficult than finding the same for not swearing. Whereas swearing was forbidden directly and clearly, cursing seemed to be handled more circumspectly. [...]
When I truly dug into the Bible and the life of Jesus for myself, what I found often didn't align with what I'd been taught by Evangelical culture. [...]
We've turned the giving of thanks into a courtesy. We rarely give thanks anymore. We say "thank you" as readily as we say "please". But this isn't giving thanks; it's just saying thanks. [...]
Like so many believers around the world, we have an annual Christmas tradition of attending a candlelight service. You know the scene: singing lots of Christmas music, [...]
A Christian in Prison It’s a new year, so let’s start things out with a bang. I’m a felon. Yeah, that’s right. I committed a crime. And got caught. I [...]
I use the term prison staff to keep the label deliberately ambiguous. Most outsiders would simply call them “guards” collectively. Most insiders call them [...]
I’m talking about politics as much as religion in this series. At least on the surface. Feel free to move along to something more innocuous (like dwarf bunnies) if you [...]
I recently wrote about my recognition that some boundaries aren’t as universally absolute as some Christians believe. Murder is wrong across the board, but can the same [...]
Apart from keeping all those small kiosks in malls busy, are there serious consequences to wearing such jewelry? Don't some people say the Bible says we're not supposed to pierce our bodies? [...]