An Inconvenient Christianity

Today is the 11th of November. It is the day that the United States of America pauses to reflect on and give honour to the countess multitude of men and women who have served in the Armed Forces to protect our freedoms and defend our borders. I join with our nation and offer my own heartfelt thanks to our very own Watchers of the Wall, Defenders of this Realm of Men, and Protectors from all threats, both foreign and domestic. May God bless and keep you all...and your families. But as I thought about the brave men and women who have served and currently serve our country, I couldn't help but remember that we as Christians are in an army of our own. We are in a spiritual army. And just like the veterans that we honour today, we don't just fight the enemy for ourselves. We fight the enemy for those who cannot. Never has the need for intercession on the behalf of fellow believers and non-believers alike been such a burden on my heart. In fact, before I can even begin to reprove...

Yesterday, both my Twitter and FaceBook timelines were filled with calls to boycott the Starbucks corporation. It seems that evangelical pastors were outraged by the fact that Starbucks redesigned the coffee cup that they use for the holidays. It no longer contains drawing of Santa Claus, snowflakes and reindeer. Now, it's just a red cup. One pastor (who will remain nameless) interpreted the change to mean that Starbucks hates Jesus and is declaring war on Christmas. First of all, what? How on earth did he make that leap? The Christmas themed scenes that were removed had nothing to do with Jesus. They were snowflakes and snowmen and Santa Claus. How does removing non-religious symbols of winter equate to "hating" Jesus? It is not as though Starbucks has ever made coffee cups that reflect the Nativity Scene or the journeys of the three wise men. Never in Starbucks history has there been a coffee cup that depicts the angel appearing to Mary and telling her that she is w...

I am about to share something deeply personal...albeit in this VERY public forum. While I normally shy away from very personal revelations, I think this one is necessary to bring out this point. All my life, I have struggled with my weight. It has been my dirty little secret. I have dieted and exercised. I even went through a battle with an eating disorder all in an effort to lose weight. I simply cannot stand the sight of myself when I am heavy. That has been quite problematic for me because I have been heavy most of my life. Translation: I have spent most of my life unable to stand the sight of myself in the mirror. So I avoid them...and pictures. Especially pictures. Since the death of my father, I have acquired a lot of weight. And the pounds that came brought friends. They won't leave, either. They seem to like just hanging out on my 5'7" frame. These recent acquaintances of mine have made me quite reluctant to look into mirrors or to pose for pictures. I just don...

In my first post this year, I referenced some issues that I am undergoing. I think it is time that I let you all in on one of them.  In the wee hours of the morning of Saturday, December 20, 2014, my father went home to be with the Lord. I have referenced him in my posts before and if you have read them, you know how I felt about my father. You will also understand why it has taken me this long to address it in this public forum....but I will not make this post a tribute to my dad. He would not have wanted that. He would simply have wanted me to continue to blog and be an encouragement to myself and the Body of Christ. So here I go.... If my father's death taught me anything, it was the reiteration of the idea that God is sovereign . A few days before my dad's home-going service I mentioned this lesson to a group of people. God does not rule by committee and He certainly does not seek approval before He acts. For indeed, if God had even bothered to run His plan by me, I ...

Does anyone remember this  song ? I do. I was in high school when it came out and I just loved it so much because the title makes you think one thing, but the lyrics speak of the opposite. It is beautiful. But that is not what this blog is about. There is a scene from the movie Boomerang where Halle Berry's character looks at the Eddie Murphy character after he insists that he loves her and tells him that "love" would have brought him home the night before. It is a powerful statement because love is not a word. It is an action. In the movie  Closer (last movie reference, I promise!) Jude Law's character tells his girlfriend (played by Natalie Portman) that he loves her and she responds, "Where? Show me. Where is this love? I can't see it. I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words." And Jude Law's face just falls because he knows what she is saying is true. ...

Greetings!! Once again, let me apologize for my unreasonably lengthy silence. The journey I have been on over the past year (almost) has been quite a ride. I will fill you all in with the coming posts....until then, yes, I have something to say. In a word: Holiness. For years, I thought of holiness as a type of appearance, a pattern of speech, and an act of deprivation. In order to dress holy, a woman's hemline should sweep the floor and her arms must be covered to the wrist and her chest covered to her chin. She could not be overly adorned and makeup was a complete no-no. (If any of you have seen me, you will know that I no longer believe this). Also, I thought that holiness meant that one should invoke the name of God once every 150 words or so, just to be on the safe side. And I also thought that holiness meant that you didn't have fun. No laughing, no spending time with friends or family unless it was to study the Word and sing hymns. Mind you, I was taught none of th...