The fact that we are Christians is not a guarantee that we will continually abide in God’s transformational grace. We all still live in fleshly bodies which are tainted by sin. A person may be a new creation, but still operate in the flesh from time to time, or even as a way of life. […]
For the most part, the Western church is in disarray. We have young people leaving the church in droves. Ungodly and immoral behavior is becoming widely accepted in our ranks. And our Christian leaders are falling like flies. Why? Because our builders have erred in laying a foundation of our understanding of grace. If we […]
Having spent far too much time meticulously watching local news reports out of Pittsburgh, I have come to the conclusion that most of the reported crimes are committed by people wearing dark-colored hoodies. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why someone hasn’t moved to ban them. I think that light and bright-colored hoodies […]
Every time a mass shooting occurs in the U.S., our government leaders rise to the occasion by proclaiming the need for change. Those who are sincere will usually push hard for gun control while ignoring the root causes that have brought such sickness upon our society. Why are our politicians so slow to look at […]
The air was thick with tension, but our hearts brimmed with hopeful optimism. Our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers had fought a tough game against their arch-rivals the Baltimore Ravens. Now the game was coming down to a doable 42-yard field goal attempt for the Pittsburgh win. The Steelers began to line up, but then ding-dong–our doorbell […]
I tried to pray on Wednesday morning after the election, but found myself having trouble getting through. Apparently so many angels had been watching campaign ads run by The World Will End If Obama Wins PAC that they were inconsolable when the final election results came in. Angels are a high priority with God, of course, […]
As a teenager in the 1970’s, I remember the Mid-East peace process being a big deal in the news. Coming on the heels of the Vietnam War, people were beyond tired of the killing; weary of losing loved ones to what at times seemed like endless and senseless conflict. In 1971, I’d Like to Teach […]
My guess is that most of us have heard of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. There’s an interesting part of the story, however, that is rarely told. Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his […]
This is the third and final guest blog post by my friend Gary Buterbaugh. I find that I am a part of two VERY different communities. One is the church – I became a Christian at an early age and have been very involved in the church since my teen years. I do not endorse […]
This is the second of three guest blog posts by Gary Buterbaugh. Have you ever heard of being plutoed? We’re not talking about Pluto the proper noun, but the verb to pluto—the American Dialect Society’s 2006 word of the year. Many of you probably remember learning about Pluto as the ninth planet in your grade […]
