Snapshots and Synapses

In the late nineties, I taught at a Christian school in the Orlando area. As I was interviewing, I was asked the question: “Have you been given any extraordinary gifts of the Spirit?” My response was sincere: “Are there any gifts of the Spirit that are truly ordinary?” This caused the people in the room to laugh with me, and the interview continued without any further probing into my beliefs about spiritual gifts. I got the job and we moved from the Washington D.C. area to Orlando. The school was part of Reformed church that had very specific beliefs about the gifts of the Spirit, and it was at our first Sunday service I discovered the real meaning of the question I had been asked in my interview: in a sermon on spiritual gifts. Now, there is the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.), and there are gifts of the Spirit. I had grown up in a liturgical denomination and wasn’t familiar with the term “extraordinary gifts”. For me, the gifts of the Spirit were all lumped into one cat...

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased!” - Luke 2:14 (NET Bible)  Good News? The headlines are filled with almost everything but! Peace??? Where? 2010 has been a flurry of a year! How can anyone argue with that? 2000 years after Christ’s birth, we see wars, famines, etc. Where is God in the midst of suffering, violence, sickness, and death? I’ve heard good questions like these, and to be honest, I don’t know if my answer would satisfy the person that has these questions, but I have an answer that satisfies me. It all has to do with the words of the ...

I was reading a book on marriage discussing the concept of making your own happiness. The author wrote that the human mind is like a computer that regularly receives programming: positive talk reinforces a positive outlook while negative talk promotes a negative outlook. The author continued to identify “self-talk” as the thoughts we allow ourselves to think repeatedly that have the same impact on our perspective. Now, I believe that happiness flows from our response to circumstances, which in turn comes from our ability to find joy, and according to Scripture, joy is a fruit of the spirit. So spending time with God allows the fruit of joy to fill us… but we need to agree with the truth He reveals to us for the fruit to grow. Our thoughts need to be conformed first to His way of thinking (1 Cor 10:5, Phil 4:8). I’m not always good at putting this into practice, but I’ve resolved to program my way of thinking so I can respond with joy and happiness to the circumstances of the day. In ...

“Here, you must need this dollar more than me.” The man said with a note of aggravation in his voice. It took my lunch companion and me by surprise. We didn’t know what he was talking about, but taking a tip from Proverbs 15:1 (“A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”), we asked some questions to try and figure out what had happened. Intending to be courteous, my wife had moved her purse out of the way as the man sat down in the crowded café. This was a habit I’ve seen her do consistently through the years out of consideration. But the man, an African-American, took offense at her actions as an insult to his integrity. We talked about it, but in the end, I don’t know if he felt the respect and consideration we were trying to convey. The years and even generations of mistreatment doled out by someone with my skin color blocked the good will my wife and I wanted to show this man. I see this tragedy work its way into the lives of my kids as well: an intended display ...

When I was little, my parents would sing a slightly modified nursery rhyme: I see the moon; the moon sees me;      the moon sees somebody I’d like to see. God bless the moon; God bless me;      God bless the somebody I’d like to see. It seems to me that God above      created you for me to love. He picked you out from all the rest      because He knew I’d love you best. As I started having children of my own, I’d sing this song to them, and my guess is that they will pass this on to their children. Romantics have often gazed into the night sky and looked upon the beauty of the moon, inspired with thoughts of love. But the first time I was truly struck the moon’s radiance, was at Disney World. As the day at Disney came to a close, the customary end-of-the-day fireworks started exploding over the castle. Now the folks at Disney put on a good show, and the fireworks are part of the package, do...

copyright ©2010 Mitchell Malloy ( http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/ ) You may think you know this tale, but it just may lead you to a different Destination than what you expect. Once upon a time, and this is a true story, mankind lived in a literal paradise. They had everything they needed, including creative hobbies and companionship. Food could be found in abundance, disease was non-existent, and no healthy desire was out of reach. The people even had direct access to God. That’s right, they could have a face to face encounter throughout the day. Even negative thoughts were non-existent… well, at least until this one idea crept into the head of one of the people. The concept was this: if a person knew all about what is right and wrong, then they would be as powerful as God. Essentially, if you knew everything about everything, including the way to be perfect, you could be your own god. The thought seemed like a good idea: understand right and wrong, know how to perfect yourself,...

copyright ©2010 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/ ) I had just come off a mini-deployment to the North Atlantic, six of the most miserable weeks of my life. During that time I had seen the sun a total of six days: the day we left Charleston, SC; the four days we stayed in Oslo, Norway; and the day we returned to Charleston. On the return trip, I had nearly been swept overboard by a large swell that caught me on the fantail of the ship after skirting around a hurricane. A fire hose dangling as a result of the storm found its way to my hand, steadying me and preventing me from being washed into the churning seas. The six weeks had been miserable. Shoring myself up emotionally, I consciously decided to only bring “positive” reading materials and music on the approaching six month deployment. Along with the Bhagavad Gītā and Upanishads, I brought a dust-ridden copy of the Bible. My degree was in Philosophy, and I had adopted Ghandi’s definition of a Hindu (i.e. –...