In Word or Deed

Photo by Zoltan Kovacs on Unsplash I've seen quite a few posts on social media lately insinuating that any Christian who has anything to say against illegal immigration is being hypocritical. They point out that the Bible tells us to care for the homeless and those in need and so we are guilty of ignoring what we claim to believe. Some even go so far as to claim that this behavior is a telltale sign of our inherent racism and selfishness, that all of our so called righteousness is nothing more than a now crumbling facade. While I don't doubt that there are plenty of people to whom this rightfully does apply, allow me a brief defense of my own position on this particular topic if you don't mind. I would say that the issue of immigration, illegal or otherwise, as well as the whole refugee issue comes down to two distinct levels of responsibility; the individual and the national. Let's talk about the personal responsibility first. As an indivi...

Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash Do you have a life's purpose? Is there something beyond or above yourself that influences your choices? I ask because it would seem that the current of modern culture is moving more and more toward the idea that the ultimate ethic is my own freedom and choice, with the only overarching ethic being that we should support the rights of other people to also follow their own desires. While this doesn't seem too terrible an idea at the start it does lead us down a rather unfortunate rabbit hole. Modern man is more and more losing the ability to live for anything beyond himself and what he finds comfortable, enjoyable, or agreeable. Really, this is just the natural outworking of pluralism and the post-modern mentality. We've taken away any idea of a meta-narrative, of an overarching truth that explains and pertains to every aspect of life. There is no objective truth in the philosophy of modern man and thus there is onl...

Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash The world often seems to be in a constant state of turmoil and distress. Opposing factions struggle for power in every corner of the world and our various world-views and ideologies combat for supremacy from the water cooler to the world wide web. People everywhere seem to be either searching for real truth or loudly proclaiming that it doesn't exist. Many have simply given up on a life that is meaningful; some of them cutting it short. Where can we go for any sense of reality, any solid foundation of real truth? We can argue back and forth about science and philosophy, we can debate theology and atheism, we can discuss anarchy vs. order, but let me propose that there is one thing at least that no can effectively deny. Humanity is flawed. It doesn't take much observation to prove this simple truth, you don't even have to look outside of yourself. You and I can look inside of ourselves and see selfishness, greed, li...

Recently, the news media has been all abuzz about the coming peace talks with North Korea. Some arguing that U.S. President Donald Trump should be praised for the achievement, others pointing out that a peace has been in the works for years thanks to various members of the South Korean government, and others going in countless other directions with their various perspectives and agendas. I personally find this development quite interesting and I am rather curious to see what all comes out of it in the end. That being said, there is a problem here. North and South Korea are two countries that have been in a state of war for many years, more than a generation, and the reason goes beyond the scope of a simple border dispute and well beyond the scope of little blog like mine. Really it points to an issue that is larger than this particular war and this particular peace talk. You see, there is a problem with peace. The problem is this: long term, ongoing war or oppos...

Fractured. A word that could easily and justifiably be used to describe America today. We are a melting pot that has grown steadily colder, congealing into a mass of disparate ingredients that want virtually nothing to do with each other. Worse still, we see each other as enemies. A bunch of scary shadowy groups of people that are...different. Didn't we used to be one country? Didn't we used to be unified? Didn't there used to be a generally understood consensus of right and wrong? In a word, no. Well, not 'no' exactly but not 'yes' either. The United States of American has always been a place where wildly different groups of people have coexisted with varying degrees of success. Pilgrims and Native Americans, Exiles and Indentured Servants, French and English, Irish and Italian, Black and White, Liberal and Conservative; the groups have changed and multiplied over time but the issue remains the same: how can people who are so very d...