Snapshots and Synapses

I struggled with the title of this post. I wanted it to be simple and honest because I believe many people struggle with the problem of pain: how could a fully good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God allow suffering? Or perhaps a more honest and vulnerable question: why does God allow me to suffer? By it's very nature suffering is painful, and we naturally shy away from pain. Pain challenges our belief in who God is.  Whether it's physical pain, financial hardship, loneliness, or some other form of suffering in our lives, pain challenges our belief in who God is: Does He not know about my suffering? Can He not stop it? Does He not care about me ? Truly, the essence of all our questions about God come down to how God is relevant to our lives. Who is God for me ?  So when we are hit with a painful situation, our first response can easily be to blame God. I have known more than one atheist who rejected God because of a painful situation in their life. The rationale explaining aw...

I've heard more than one well-meaning person claim that a husband and wife should not go to bed until they've reconciled. Citing Ephesians 4:26 as their source, they claim that this is God's design for a happy marriage. So let's look at this verse within it's scriptural context: Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.  ~ Ephesians 4:25-27 I believe it's great advice to not go to bed angry. It's biblical wisdom. Holding onto anger is exhausting and unhealthy, eating away like a cancer inside. How do we let go of anger? First, recognizing that anger is a secondary emotion, we need to identify the emotion behind the anger. Is it sadness? Betrayal? Loneliness? Frustration? Embarrassment? Confusion? Fear? The source of our anger can be so many things, and identifying the ...

Whether you listen to the podcast or read the transcript in  Part 1 , I hope it's clear that there is a difference between being compassionate and being loving. Compassion without reason is a poison that kills despite it's desire to help.  In a similar way, the truth is a blunt instrument that can bludgeon a person if is not tempered with loving compassion. Immature Christians can sometimes beat others over the head with truths that are void of compassion, but that is not how we are called to represent God's Kingdom. Ephesians 4:15 in context tells us that we grow in maturity as we speak the truth in a loving way. I find it hard to read verses 11-18 and not understand that truth and love must be knitted together.  Can we truly love another without knowing them? Sure, we can never fully know another, just as the most self-aware person can never fully understand themself. We are complex and influenced by a myriad of past experiences, personality traits and cognitive biases...

Our world has forgotten what it is to love, to truly love.  We think it is just a powerful feeling, and we see it as the cause of a multitude of irrational behaviors.  People are called bigots, Nazis and hateful when they don't affirm others in what is obviously untrue. Yet I assert that love is not love without truth, and truth is incomplete without love. I'll explain this in a future post, but first, it's important to understand what Dr. Del Tackett explained in this podcast on the James Dobson Family Institute. (Alternatively, see the transcript ) The podcast is called:  The Rise of Malevolent Compassion Again, I'll write more about love and truth in a future post after establishing this foundation.  copyright ©2026 Mitchell Malloy ( http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/ )