Snapshots and Synapses

So as to not be too heady as well as lay the groundwork for this particular blog, what does dichotomy mean? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, dichotomy is: a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities [e.g.] the dichotomy between theory and practice also : the process or practice of making such a division [e.g.] dichotomy of the population into two opposed classes So “dichotomy” is simply a division within one thing, most often in the sense of polar opposites.  And what is “being”? As a verb, it’s just the act of existing while when used as a noun it a living thing. You and I are beings, and we are both currently acting out our existence. So the rather intimidating title “The Dichotomy of Being” is simply two contradictory beings in one entity. Now again, I don’t want to get too deep, but words are important and I couldn’t find a word I liked better than “dichotomy” to describe what our existence is like because as believers we are...

One of my favorite stories about Jesus is when he’s approached by His friend, Peter, who asks how many times he should forgive a person. (See Matthew 18:21-35 ) Peter threw out a number, suggesting that a person should be forgiven 7 times. Seven (7) was understood to be the number of perfection and completion, so Peter was demonstrating his understanding of how important it is to forgive. But it’s hard to discern a person’s heart, especially from a short and simple story. Was Peter asking in order to justify himself and his own self-righteousness or was he being sincere in trying to understand God’s view on forgiveness? Regardless, Jesus responds in a way that Peter wasn’t expecting, saying that we should forgive 70 times 7, figuratively explaining that there is no limit to the number of times we need to forgive others. Jesus then goes on to tell a story that explains this concept, tying how we are forgiven with our ability to forgive.   As we know, Peter like all Jesus’ friends ab...

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray. Instead, as we lovingly speak the truth, we will grow up completely in our relationship to Christ, who is the head. ~ Ephesians 4:14-15   Speaking the truth in love sounds easy, but in practice it can be really hard. It can be hard to speak truth, fearful of how it will be received, and it can be hard to speak in a loving fashion when the truth can seem so obvious or when it’s being casually disregarded. But God made us to live in truth and love, to speak truth to others with love in our hearts. As I wrote this, I felt concern that my words could hurt people I care about: friends, colleagues and relatives. I don’t want to bludgeon anyone with the truth, but I don’t want to be unclear about the whole truth, explained if you read through to the end . There are many mo...

Truth and Lies I’m of the belief that God is in control, that He doesn’t make mistakes, and therefore our gender, height, and hair color are part of His perfect design. You should also know you were born for such a time as this. The timing of your birth and the family you were born into were intentional, which isn’t to say that how others treated you was part of God’s plan. The important thing to realize is that you are no accident. Your gender is no accident.  I’m writing this to those were born male and to dispel some lies about being a man. One lie is that masculinity is toxic or that one gender is better than another. There are some traits that are inherently masculine and some that are feminine. There are also traits that apply to both genders: intelligence, creativity, resilience, etc. As people we made in God’s Image (See Genesis 1:27) and we were made to be loved and to love others.  Yet chances are, you’ve been lied to about the facts of life and what it means to be a...

You are unique There is no one else exactly like you in all the universe and in any time period. Even if there were an exact biological duplicate, they would not have your life experiences or made all the decisions that led you to where you are today. They would not have overcome all the hardships you have overcome in exactly the same way. They could not have persevered in the same way that you have. In fact, no one but you can be you. No one else can choose to grow from this point in your life, and no one else can make the choices that you will moving forward from this moment. So be the best you that you can be, the best version of you.  There are circumstances in life beyond our power to change. Our past remains our past. Some aspects of our lives are controlled by other people, but no one can take our integrity, making us choose the wrong thing or the wrong path. They can take our lives or our ability to choose. They can even deceive us to pick the worst path, but no one can mak...

20 years ago today America was attacked. This is not a day of celebration, unless we celebrate the first responders who stepped up to their sworn responsibility. This is not a day to forget either. “Those who fail to remember history are destined to repeat it.”  For me, it’s a day of reflection, remembering where I was as the first plane hit the tower, the call from my wife, the amazing stories of lives that were somehow spared because they didn’t follow their normal routine. And in the days that followed, listening to a liberal pundit turned conservative as he realized that many of his liberal colleagues truly hated America.  We have made mistakes, but I believe the vast majority of Americans have desired good things for our neighbors and tried to do what is right, both domestically and abroad. But I also see the moral decline, increase in selfishness and waning of love. Brother fights against brother and violence increases… and it will continue to increase unless we come bac...

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 Introduction I have long been fascinated with the life of Daniel and the mysteries in his prophetic book. Daniel and his friends grew up in the ruling class. They likely heard about a religious fanatic who was despised by many of the nobles because he kept predicting the inevitable judgement of God. We know that fanatic as the prophet Jeremiah. I can imagine the parents of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as devout followers of Yahweh and can picture conversations they may have had about the controversial messages of Jeremiah. We know that Jeremiah was ultimately was proven to be God’s man, but at the time, his behavior was strange even for a prophet, and his message was disturbing. God’s judgement came in the middle of Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry as the Babylonian exile began. Daniel and his friends were contemporaries of not just Jeremiah, but possibly had childhood int...

Election 2020 has been interesting to say the least, and as we count down to Election Day, I feel like I have both so much and so little to say. I doubt we’ll know when the election results will be clear and what they may bring. I believe it likely that some people will seize the opportunity to sow further civil discord, hoping and praying that I’m wrong. I can see so many possibilities, but only one thing is certain: God is Sovereign. His will be done! Two extreme possibilities exist, and many things in between. I look to the Left and see a potential victory that would immediately distribute soma to a populace tired of fighting while rapidly solidifying a power-base so secure that an anomaly like MAGA could never happen again. America would be reorganized with a new constitution, and while it may not be called “socialist” it would be indistinguishable from the “communist menace” feared by past generations. I could envision rebel pockets of resistance emerging, fighting for an ideal fr...

Imagine this:  You are at a large house party complete with delicious food and drinks. Music is playing and people are talking, laughing, and smiling. You are there with family, friends, neighbors, some co-workers and even some folks you don’t recognize when you notice a beeping from the middle of the house. You walk over to the take a closer look at the source of the noise: a small electronic device. Hoping it’s not what you think it is, you examine it more closely and your fears are confirmed when you realize it’s a bomb! Somehow in a wacky way you don’t fully understand, you have the knowledge and expertise to know for sure that this is a lethal bomb that has been activated. It will blow up the house, leaving only a large crater. You don’t even know how you recognize the bomb, but you do. You also realize it could simply look like a bomb, a clever fake intended to make a joke of the person recognizing it. And yet you know it really is a bomb.  The beeping continues as you ...

Thinking about a 2020 Vision for myself, I started first with the hub of the wheel, because everything else is meaningless without Spiritual Health. My immediate thought was: “I want to be godly man.” Admittedly this is a pretty broad and lofty goal, and I thought: “Wouldn’t everyone want to be godly?” This idea was quickly followed by: “No, but then not everyone stops to think about their Spiritual Health.”  But as I contemplated about it further, I realized my desire to be a godly man reflected a lifetime of wrong thinking. It revealed vanity, a focus on self and self-righteousness. Now, I can look at another person and say: “He/She is a godly person!” and there is no vanity or wrongful in the statement, but how can I look at myself for godliness? The very act is both vain and self-righteous, an indication of spiritual pride. No, seeking to be a godly person is the wrong goal and is not a vision for Spiritual Health. My 2020 Vision for Spiritual Health needed to chan...

This is something you need to understand: You are the reason why the time of Christ’s return is near. That’s right: you. Assuming of course that you are the Remnant, the Confessing Church, the Bride of Christ. It is His love for you, for me and for all the hidden, universal church that will bring an end to this Age, a conclusion to the rebellion that began with the Serpent, Eve and Adam. Now let me explain how you play such a critical role as this age comes to a close and Yahweh’s judgement draws near. First, let me be clear that I’m not declaring a day nor an hour of His imminent return. Scripture tells us that only the Father knows that. But look at the signs and just as the weather can be predicted (somewhat unreliably) by certain indicators, we can look at the prophecies in Scripture and recognize that everything is lined up. I won’t go into all the details, but Israel became a nation again and the generation that saw that pivotal event is in their latter years. The temple pr...

Ok, let’s be honest, who has ever heard a clear definition of a soul. It’s a mystical, ethereal thing that is somehow the same as and yet different from our spirit (Hebrews 4:12). I’ve heard it described as the mind, will and emotion, which is both true and says absolutely nothing. The best definition I’ve heard is that it’s our habit of thinking, those thoughts we think without realizing that we are thinking, and that concept finally opened doors for me to understand how the soul is indeed the mind, will and emotion all tied up together in a way that describes the essence of who we are.  And that understanding opened many more doors to see how this battleground of the soul is where Satan operates. If he can get us to think wrongly without even realizing our self-sabotage, then the battle is almost won (by him… bad for us!). He can neutralize our efforts by the self-sabotage of our habits of thought. He can create discouraging feelings when God’s Word tells us to be bold and ...

I met with a friend recently, and like a growing number of people I’ve discovered he no longer believed in the God of the Bible. My friend is still a “good person” by the world’s standards, and relative the majority of people I’ve known, I’m privileged that we’re friends. I’m glad that he was honest with me, but I’m saddened. I am committed to being a friend still, but I recognize that we now come from two different world-views. This difference is more than simply having different opinions; we have conflicting beliefs about what is true and good. And I’m saddened that we live in a post-Christian society. Our society has a confused sense of what’s “good”. Without anything higher than ourselves, how can we call anything “good”? Is it by general consensus or perhaps by what has been traditionally accepted as “good”? If so, then there is nothing truly good, intrinsically good. Rather, the ideal of “goodness” morphs over time. So who is to say that what we call “evil” today won’t be cal...