I Am A Survivor

Last week I celebrated my birthday.  This was a BIG one… the big 6-0.  Seems huge.  I have told several people—60 just seems old.  When you are in your 50’s you can convince yourself that you are still at the upper reaches of middle age.  But 60?  That’s old.  Bordering on elderly.  Within sight of ancient.  (One friend reminded me that biblically I only have 10 more years left to live, cf. Psalm 90:10.)

But, it is not the demise of my fading youth that is on my mind this morning.  Actually, what I am thinking of is the difference between everyday life in the 21^st century and what life was like when I was growing up.  My, what differences there are!

Advertisements

Are All Sins the Same?

Question:  “I have often heard that all sins are the same.  There is no such thing as big sins or little sins.  Is this true?  Are all sins equal?” – B. in Charlottesville, Va.

My Answer:  The idea that all sins are basically the same is commonly asserted today.  We often see this stated when a person is criticized for committing a particular sin.  I have heard people say things like this, “You can’t judge me for this sin.  My sin is no bigger or worse than the sins that you commit.  I’ve seen you lose your temper or speak sharply!”  They may tell you that Christians have no right to label a certain sin as more offensive than any other sin.  To give but one example, they may say that sexual immorality is no worse than gossip or selfishness.  Their obvious attitude is this, how can you judge an adulterer, fornicator or homosexual if you, yourself, are guilty of being unkind or sharp tongued?  After all, sin is sin.  All sin is equally wrong, or so they say.

Moldy Evolutionary Cake

Theistic evolution is a classic example of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.  If you are not familiar with the theory, it is basically this:  God is the Creator of all things, but evolution is the means He used to bring about all organic life on earth.  So, according to this theory, the earth is billions of years old.  Life began spontaneously in some primordial oceanic goo millions of years ago.  The generally accepted secular geological time table is correct.  And human beings are evolved primates, descended from some ape-like ancestor of a few million years ago.

What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men

I am thinking this afternoon about the nature of evil. Possibly a rather strange subject to be contemplating on a Friday afternoon. Maybe it’s all the bizarre crimes that we hear about these days. Or maybe it’s the violence raging its way through the Middle East right now. Or perhaps it’s simply the clouds and gloom that I see outside my office window. Whatever the reason, the matter of evil keeps coming to mind.

Hating sin… but loving gays

This Trogo is one that has been brewing in my mind for quite some time… months I guess. It is the result of comments that I have been hearing from Christians over and over. It concerns the church’s current attitude toward the sin of homosexuality. Here is a sampling of the flood of dialogue that goes on about this issue.

Regarding a family or friend who has come out of the closet: “So what’s the big deal? I know that homosexuality is a sin. But it is no different from any other sin.”

Regarding the Boy Scouts decision to openly allow homosexual boys to join the Scouts: “What does it matter? They are boys just like the others. And who knows… maybe some Christian can reach them with the Gospel.”