Stumbling About for Truth

As Christians (or the church as we're sometimes thought of) we're suppose to be a group for those looking for refuge. You know, a place where those in need come to find help. We're suppose to care about others before ourselves right? There's no greater way to show your love and care for someone in need than to give of yourself to them. Jesus said we should follow His example and love one another as He loved us: sacrificially and unconditionally. I recently found that a friend of mine experienced the opposite in her hour of need. I don't know all the details. But then again, I don't need to know them. What I do know is that she found no refuge when she needed it. She found only that those she thought would walk with her were too busy to stop and listen and realize that she was hurting and in need of their friendship and compassion. This is not good. If we can't slow down enough to care and be the refuge for those we say we love, then what good are we to God o

Ahem... La La La La... Mi Mi Mi Mi... okay I'm ready... I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father except by me... and if he's a republican... and only if he's pro-life... oh wait! No gays either. They're an abomination. And they must be American patriots. No sissy pacifists either! Also, he better have voted for "W" and he'd best not have voted for that heathen Obama! And low taxes! he's gotta believe in low taxes! Also, if you're a woman, you need to know your place if you want in to my kingdom - no woman leaders allowed in my kingdom! My peep Paul said it straight and he meant it! And you must be pro-israel. Screw the muslims! They are eeeeviiiilllll!!! You help a muslim, forget it. You're not getting in. No catholics either. They follow some guy in a big white shiny hat. They're idolaters. They ain't allowed! Hey God... did I miss anyone. You think them Americans will be happy? What was that? Socialists? Oh! Ye

While I was walking tonight, I had an almost hour long texting conversation with my daughter. She is in Wyoming (though texting from Salt Lake City where she is visiting) and I am in Texas. She is coming back to Texas and the heat in a few days though and we are excited! I thought there was something special about the convo, though I am not sure what. Our conversation consisted of the mundane, the seriously spiritual, and some memories all wrapped up in a little humor. I don't know... Maybe it was just that we were sharing our lives with each other without the weight of the baggage that has been plaguing our relationship the last few years. Anyways, send me your thoughts after you read it... Note: I kept the bad grammar and punctuation as it appeared to preserve the essence of the brevity of texting. We still did some good communicatin' though! Dad: What doin? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Huh? Dad: Well? Dad: .

"The ascended christ reigns over the church and all societies but in different ways. In truth, the only "Christian nation" is the body of Christ as it is dispersed throughout all peoples and in all times. Confusion on this point has resulted in far-reaching consequences." Read more here .

I think most times, God is busily stripping us of the idols we have clothed ourselves in. I don't think He cares much about what we want that we think will make us happy. There are many more imminent issues concerning our lives in relation to the Kingdom of God than our pipe dreams of wealth, health and happiness.

I like Facebook. So therefore you'll find me commenting and dialoguing there more than just writing a static piece here. So if you have a Facebook account, "Friend" me and let me know you found me here and I will accept you as a friend even if I don't know you. If you have no idea what "friending" is, don't be too alarmed. Go to facebook.com and open an account and then look me up. You can also click the facebook badge over there on the right side of this page. I will still write from time to time here - maybe once every other month or so. Maybe more, maybe less. So if you care to keep up with me, facebook is the place. You can email me as well. My address is over there to the right. -Alan P.S. I am also on Twitter @apcreative.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." “You must rail against an immoral society. By this all men will know that you are my disciples.” “You must be a part of the “right” political party. By this all men will know you are my disciples.” “You must point out others’ sins. By this all men will now you are my disciples.” “You must agree with me on all doctrinal issues – especially those pesky controversial ones. By this all men will know you are my disciples. “You must believe the Bible is inerrant. By this all men will know you are my disciples.” Some of those are actually good things. I wonder why Jesus didn’t say any of those instead of saying we would be known by our love for one another? You’d think He did say many of them by what we focus on sometimes. We are intent on becoming the world’s moral and spiritual police. We want to be the Holy

A few posts ago, I told the story of David Lipscomb, a friend of Ronne's. He was dying of pancreatic cancer. I posted a video of a song that spoke to me about him and the fact that once God has a hold of us, He never let's go. Well... David is now in his Lord's arms and Jesus will indeed never let him go. Please be praying for his family and friends as the celebrate his life and grieve together.

I don't know much about Miguel De La Torre, but this article tells me a couple of things: 1. He gives lip service to Jesus' divinity and humanity in this article, but doesn't really believe Jesus is divine because a divine Jesus is a sinless Jesus and Dr. De La Torre believes He sinned in the passage of scripture he is basing his argument on. 2. I haven't seen such a blatant use of a straw horse argument in a long time.

I have spent the last few days with an under current of simmering anger. I have learned in the last year or so to keep it under control - anger has always been a huge issue with me for various reasons - but I have literally been set free from that in the last year. Doesn't mean I have been necessarily perfect, but being set free creates peace in your life and I can truly say it has done this for me. I have also learned to explore the "why" of simmering anger. There is usually something I can learn about myself when I can gather the courage to look into my soul where anger resides. And I usually can, with the revelation of knowledge about the "why", evict it from my soul, replacing it with peace and satisfaction. What I found during this excursion to my soul was a control issue. I had lost control of a situation - or had perceived I lost control and became angry about it under the surface. I recently assumed a leadership role with an organization - something I al

We were singing a song in church tonight that reminded me of Ronne's friend. It's called "You Never Let Go." Her friend, David Lipscomb, is someone I don't know, but he is suffering and has been on my mind since Ronne posted about him on her facebook. He is suffering through a reoccurrence of pancreatic cancer that has also spread into his liver. The thing is, not only did this song remind me of him, but as I listened to the message tonight about being mad at God, he came back to my mind. I wondered if David was mad at God for not healing him - for allowing this suffering in his life at all. I am sure he has probably asked the big "why" question - we all do. But as I read Ronne's note on facebook about David's situation, something jumped out at me about him. She says he wants more than anything to see Jesus' fame spread because of his story. How incomprehensible to me this is! Of course, the fact that this is incomprehensible to me says a few

I will let this story speak for itself. It's worth the time to read and watch the video.

I was thinking... it is popular for Christian leaders and pastors to try to parlay the influence of a person into building the Kingdom. You know... someone has power, influence, money - he/she is looked upon as a source from which the church or maybe a Christian organization can pull something they want or need. For instance, consider Jason Castro and Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas (which by the way, is my church). We all know Jason from American Idol fame. He has quite a bit of influence - especially since he is from Rowlett (next door to Rockwall where Lakepointe Church is based) and was/is a member of Lakepointe from before his newfound celebrity status. Here is my hypothesis (since I wasn't involved in the planning of it): This past Christmas, knowing that many non-members and many non-Christians would be darkening the doors, the leadership at Lakepointe invited Jason to perform the opening song at the Christmas eve service. They also did a purposely cheesy kind of skit w

Here is an interesting story about Scandinavians, their Godless culture and their contentedness. The book that is reviewed compares Scandinavia's contented irreligious society and America's religious discontented society. In my view, Scandinavians are extremely religious. In fact, not only does their society practice this religion, but so does their government. Their religion? Socialism. That being said, America needs to rediscover Paul's words from Philippians 4: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Here is a good article on the upcoming movie on Ted Haggard. I won't be watching it as I do not have HBO, but I thought the last quote by the director of the movie to the CT's author when he said he would watch the movie and then write the sidebar was interesting seeing as how it comes from a self-described "cultural" Catholic. (BTW: What IS a cultural Catholic? Why would someone want the culture and not really believe in it?) Just don't make God look bad. Let God win.

I was just at another blog reading comments and noticed that there was a commenter who made sure to point out that they were a calvinist. The blog in question, which is Wade Burleson's blog, has often been the site of many a debate (let me translate that word for you: knock down drag outs) on the validity of folks' various viewpoints - of which none of them would budge no matter how much bickering took place. I often wonder why people try so hard to convince someone to switch sides in the midst of an argument... I have never seen it happen. I long for the day when we identify ourselves and one another as simply "Christian" or "Christ-follower" rather than "Baptist", Calvinist", "Dispensationalist", "Pre-Millenialist", etc. When I see a Christian referring to another as "my brother" or "my sister" it's a fresh breath of air and takes me back to the simplicity of the gospel message. We need to open a g

John 7:1-10: After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him. Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet[a] going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come." 9Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

I have gotten back into walking a couple of miles each day after work. I always listen to something while walking so I stay interested. Today I was listening to an abbreviated version of Jonathon Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon. Some thoughts I came away with: 1. Church and secular folks hated the idea of hell back then as much as we do now. 2. The Great Awakening, resulting in untold numbers of people converting to Christ, was the result of this sermon back then. Today, it would have the opposite effect - and I am not just talking about secular world either. People in and out of the church would not only reject the idea of hell, they would ridicule Edwards. There probably were some who ridiculed him then, but I can't help but think that the force of our overwhelming secular world we live in today would squash his sermon like a bug. 3. These days, do we accept the gospel because it saves us from hell? Do we really accept Christ's ultimate sa

The headline makes it sound like I am about to write a pretty involved piece huh? Not. This is just a thought on paper. Not well thought out. Not researched. Just a thought. As I approached the open elevator door after a long day at work, a woman came rushing around the corner to catch it as well. I automatically stopped my approach to the door, stepped aside and allowed her to get on first. You see, as a man, I have been conditioned by the culture we live in. By the American culture at large. By corporate culture. By my family's culture. It has all played a role. Because it is so ingrained into me, I cannot, without at least feeling guilty, go ahead of a woman in amy situation. Now think about the famous passage in 1 Timothy 2:12 and beyond about women and their role compared to men. The picture Paul paints of a woman's role is, at the very least, one of submission and 2nd place to her husband. Among other reasons, I have always heard the argument that the reason Paul wrote t

There was boy who was getting baptized last night who looked to be about 4 or 5 years old. He also might have been special needs, but I am not sure. Here is the exchange (Johnny is not his real name): Pastor: Johnny, is it true that you have accepted our Lord Jesus as your savior? Johnny: unintelligible screech (The pastor took that as a 'yes' I guess as after he was taken aback by the screech, he plowed on ahead) Pastor: Johnny, have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins? Johnny: Ummm, I don't know... maybe! (Long pregnant pause... pastor is not sure what to do...) Johnny's Dad (who was standing by him in the water): Psst! Say,"Yes sir!" (Johnny smiles a big grin and says nothing) Pastor awkwardly says: I now baptize you Johnny, in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit... It was hilarious! Everyone was laughing. It was one of God's children at his finest!