Snapshots and Synapses

Why should anyone go to church? Isn't it enough to love God and love others? And aren’t so many churches filled with hypocrites and money-grabbers? I get more from reading my Bible than hearing someone speak a dumbed down or hyped up sermon spattered with a few Bible verses, so why should I waste my time in a church service? Besides, I have been hurt and betrayed by church people. Why subject myself to further pain? Around this time of year over 20 years ago I was given a series of visions that showed how many people would leave church. That doesn’t seem so strange now, but even when I wrote why  I don’t want to go to church , it was a new phenomenon. Re-reading my post, it rings more true today. I can give you the bottom line:  We go to church because God says we need it.  My walk with Him is stronger today because I listened, albeit reluctantly, and I understand the purpose of church as a result. There are pastors who can’t make that claim. I know that for a fact becaus...

There’s a new meme by “Progressive” thinkers that attempts to shame Pro-Life advocates into silence, calling them a hypocrite if they don’t actively campaign for the well-being of children and yet claim to be Pro-Life. This meme follows a pattern of many “Progressive” narratives that shut down any any meaningful conversation about an issue. It is what I would call an anti-pattern for effective dialogue. What is an anti-pattern? It started off as a software engineering term, and it means something that may be commonly used but is actually ineffective or counterproductive when practiced. (see https://www.yourdictionary.com/antipattern ) So a dialogue anti-pattern is one that shuts down discourse on a topic. I suppose if you want to shut down conversation, dialogue anti-patterns are an effective tool, but they are counterproductive to building healthy relationships. Some examples of these anti-patterns include: physical violence; verbal assault, attacking the character, motivation or cred...