Evangelism is a term very similar to “Jihad” in terms of public relations. It is a term cherished by those of us “inside” Christianity, but despised by those on the outside. Christians may think “spreading the Gospel,” but to others it means “socially awkward situations where you pressure me to accept YOUR beliefs.” Some on the progressive side of Christianity have suggested we should just stop proselytizing [converting] all together, conservatives often respond “What’s the purpose of our faith if aren’t trying to spread it?” I suggest the problem is the term “evangelise” itself. SOURCE: Adoption and Hospitality Should Replace \”Evangelism\” … Continue reading Is Evangelism A Dirty Word???

One of the things they tell you that you must learn when you become a soldier is to follow orders without any questions or doubts.  It is not up to you to determine if what they order you to do is moral, right, wrong, or any other type of reasoning. That lesson is drummed into you during basic training and throughout your time in the military. Your superiors are the ones who decide what you do. You have little or no input into that process. I guess I was a typical five-year old in that I constantly asked the question … Continue reading I Would Make A Terrible Soldier….

Safety Android is the Wild West of phone operating systems. Stock devices largely come unprotected from attack. Sure, Google checks apps and viruses for malware on the Google Play store, but threats can come from anywhere – even via unsecured Wi-Fi locations. The phones are so vulnerable, in fact, that 32.8 million Android devices were infected with malware last year alone. SOURCE:  4 Reasons Why You Should Pick Apple iOS over Android | TIME.com. This article contains four reasons why Apple is better than Android. Yes, I know there are strict loyalties among both of these brands but when it comes to … Continue reading Why You Should Pick Apple iOS over Android

I admit up front that for my generation It seems I am just weird. I am the first of the baby boomers and I am now officially a senior citizen. Being a senior citizen I am told by the media that: I must fear change when in fact I embrace it. I must fear the changing demographics when in fact I celebrate it. I must fear immigrants when in fact I am more than happy to see them come. I must fear the loss of morality when in fact I see much of that as someone else’ version of morality. … Continue reading I Am Weird…..

I’m not sure where I first heard the phrase in the title but it rings true to me in both our international and our political processes. When someone makes a very crude attempt to make a shoe bomb we immediately make it front page news and then spend billions of dollars to guard against it. It seems that by talking about terrorism so much we are actually causing much of it to happen. When we give all the nuts out there their “15 minutes of fame” we are actually encouraging more to come forward.  When we give so much attention … Continue reading Publicity Is The Oxygen Of Terrorism….

There is a lot of uproar lately about digital privacy. I am kind of on the fence about it. One the one hand I want our government to be able to track down those who would do harm to innocent people but on the other hand I don’t want the government to come after me because of some of the words on this blog or any other part of my life. I value my privacy and for the most part just want to be left alone. Continue reading About Digital Privacy….

The automation of human labor is as old as the Industrial Revolution. From the steam engine and the cotton gin to the desktop computer and the robotic welder, machines have enabled leaps of efficiency that create far more jobs than they destroy. And yet many economists and technologists believe that things are different this time, that society is entering a new and troubling phase as computing power and other advances make possible the creation of ever-more-powerful robots. What if the economic growth of the future produces more jobs for more robots, leaving humans behind? What if we’re heading toward a … Continue reading Will Robots Take Our Jobs?

Continue reading Corporate Welfare….

“Don’t romanticize charity, we can’t make up for these cuts,” Margarette Purvis, president and CEO of Food Bank For New York City, told MSNBC.com in September. “No one is more afraid of these cuts than charity, because we cannot cover it.” Negotiations began this week between the House and Senate on the 2013 Farm Bill as the two sides try to reconcile their differences, including on food benefits for the country’s poor. The Senate version of the bill would cut about $4 billion more from food stamps over the next decade. But the House bill would cut $39 billion, causing … Continue reading Disregard for Humanity…..

Now which is the narrowest, religious intolerance or political intolerance?   – Will Rogers, 20 April 1927 That is a tough one Will. Even tougher is which does the most damage? Many have blamed, and rightly so in some regards, religious intolerance for most of humanities wars.  But political intolerance has caused so much damage to society as to rival that. Which is the narrowest? I don’t know…. Continue reading Intolerance….

“Now is the time to build on this momentum and accelerate our share and profits in phones,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an email to Microsoft employees. “Clearly, greater success with phones will strengthen the overall opportunity for us and our partners to deliver on our strategy to create a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most. SOURCE:  Microsoft Buying Nokia’s Devices and Phone Business for $7 Billion – ABC News. I was around in the beginning … Continue reading Buying Innovation Instead Of Creating It…….

Lets visit some recent history to see if maybe we are a little wiser now than we were then. I have always liked Joe Biden. He just seems like a down to earth say it like it is type of guy. These words are just as true today as when Joe said them more than two years ago. Why can’t more people understand that??? Continue reading Still True Today….

When will we ever learn???? In case you have lost track, he is the LAX shooter. Considering there have been a couple more in the news in the last day or so I guess this is old news… How sad is that??? Continue reading When Will It End???

I admit that I find the gospel of partnering with God for the healing of the world much, much harder than the gospel of God loves you and wants to give you a ticket to heaven. It’s harder emotionally, physically, financially, socially and culturally. It’s tiring. Without the Holy Spirit, without worship, without community I’d give up and go back to that old gospel. It was easier in those days, for sure. It was easier when it was about me and my blessing, my healing, my salvation and inviting other people to enjoy my amazing new life. It was much … Continue reading The ‘Other Gospel’ was easier

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants his old job back. This time, he’s running as Democrat. Crist filed paperwork on Friday, and plans to make the official announcement Monday in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Republican-turned-Democrat is considered a front-runner for the Democratic ticket. He would likely be up against current Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican. Scott represents a far more conservative version of the GOP than Crist ever did….. “I’m an optimist but let’s face it, the last few years have been tough: government on the fringes, donors in politics above you the people,” said Crist in the video. “You’ve … Continue reading A Sign Of Things To Come???

The person close to the talks told CBS News’ Stephanie Lambidakis that the tentative settlement was sealed Friday during a 6 p.m. phone call between Attorney General Eric Holder and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon along with their top lawyers. SOURCE: JPMorgan Chase, Justice Department reach tentative $13 billion deal over mortgage-backed securities – CBS News. $13 billion is a lot of money for most corporations so this settlement had to hurt JPMorgan. But what I don’t understand is that the agreement was “sealed”. That means that no one can see what actual agreements were made.  I am a firm believer that … Continue reading JPMorgan Chase, Justice Department reach tentative $13 billion deal over mortgage-backed securities

Despite his having written an entire biography of Paul in Acts, Luke seems to be curiously unaware of Paul’s life and ministry as reflected in Paul’s authentic letters. None of Paul’s letters are mentioned in Acts. The language and theology of Paul’s speeches as told by Luke are so different in vocabulary and theology from the Paul of the authentic letters that it seems much of Luke’s Paul can be chalked up to dramatic license. The authentic Paul emphasizes justification and reconciliation while Luke’s “Paul” preaches righteousness and forgiveness. In other words, Luke’s Paul preaches in the theological language of … Continue reading Studying The Bible….

In science, you move closer to the truth by seeking evidence to the contrary. Perhaps the same method should inform your opinions as well. SOURCE: “You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself”  (McRaney, David) I have a lot of quotes from this book now residing in my database and will be bringing them out from time to time. I am a scientist so the words above ring very true to me. Being a scientist got me into trouble in the Christian … Continue reading Seeking Evidence….

This is kind of a continuation of yesterday’s post about why Republicans hate Obamacare. One thing I didn’t come across in my one hour search of why they hate Obamacare but I have seen it used as part of their opposition is that it puts too many additional people into the system. They say adding 30 million more consumers of healthcare will overwhelm our system. This seems to me to be a somewhat typical complaint among many of my conservative friends. They look almost exclusively at themselves and the status quo when they see changes being made.  That is why they … Continue reading Too Many People…

I recently googled the above title and then spent an hour looking at the first one hundred or so sources that came back. I was hoping someone would give some insight into why Republicans, without exception in congress, hate something that gives people the opportunity to purchase affordable healthcare. I was really looking for some well nuanced explanation of what is wrong with Obamacare.  I was  open to any common sense arguments about this four year old law that is finally being implemented. Instead what I got was: Republicans hate Obamacare because it mandates personal insurance. — Never mind that … Continue reading Why Do Republicans Hate Obamacare?….

17th century French philosopher Rene Descartes said, “ If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” If he’s right, seeking the truth about Jesus might require mentally distancing ourselves from everything we’ve been programmed to believe and instead becoming open to discovering the true Kingdom of God. SOURCE:  Stephen Jarnick: Robotic Christianity | Red Letter Christians. These are very powerful words to me. I am just the type of person who questions everything. They were spoken in the source post relating … Continue reading Doubt Everything, At Least Once….

Mark Driscoll, the attention grabbing minister of the Mars Hill megachurch, is at it again. He’s pushing his badass Jesus who has, as he put it a few years ago, “a commitment to make someone bleed.” Driscoll has a personal need for a sacred tough guy because he has some sort of theological kink or character twist or… whatever, that leads him to declare, “I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” It sounds to me like he’s looking for a swaggering gang leader to follow, not One who said, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke … Continue reading His Own Version Of Jesus….

Roughly 4.7 million Americans went online Tuesday to browse the Obamacare health insurance exchanges prompting HealthCare.gov administrators to increase the site’s server capacity and create a new “wait page” to hold a person’s place in line until the site can load properly. On top of the Web traffic, 190,000 Americans used federal health insurance exchange call centers and another 104,000 requested live chats. “Now that quality, affordable coverage is within reach, we’re seeing that pent up demand break through, underscoring once again how important it was to fix our broken health care system,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesman … Continue reading Heavy Traffic Clogs – and Delights – Obamacare Insurance Sites