Commonsense Christianity

Dreams are great things. They push us, prod us, exhilarate us, give us hope for a brighter future. They also frustrate us to no end, especially when we have a dream, a desire, a longing, an aching — for years and years and years — but despite how much we work toward it, pray about it, give it back…

In a recent conversation with a five-year-old, it came out that using a pen, in kindergarten, is a prohibited activity. Violation of this particular law results in the punishment of putting one’s head down on the desk. What strikes me most about this issue — other than that it still is an issue, because 46 years ago,…

In the first two parts of this miniseries on how to practically apply Biblical wisdom to our lives, we looked at the two Great Commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) and “Love your neighbor as…

In Part 1 of this miniseries, we looked at the Great Commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Part 2 of our miniseries of tangible things we can do…

Several times, I have had people write, or say to me, “I want to live my life for Christ, but I don’t know how. It seems too difficult.” It is, and it isn’t, and at base, living for Christ involves living, minute by minute, doing the things that are put before us. The next three…

Many Christians — myself included — have looked to various events and stories of the Bible as paralleling our own lives. We derive wisdom, teaching, instruction and comfort from the Exodus adventure and subsequent wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, or we see ourselves in the man who called out to Jesus, “I do believe; help…

I became a Christian at 19. For the first 25 years, I diligently attended church services, which means that I came into regular contact with Christians comfortable in that setting, and for the last eight years, I have been transitioning into a more independent state, finding fellowship with seekers and believers in alternative formats. What…

When you live in a small town with a major employment base being the school district, you’re not particularly popular when you speak against the party line. But since the friends you make by constantly agreeing with others aren’t real friends, I had no problem writing a letter to the editor against a $20 million…

Discipline is an ambiguous word, easily misunderstood because its two major applications are so at variance with one another. In a good sense, discipline is what athletes do — training their bodies to achieve top performance through practice, hard work, persistence, attention to diet and daily living habits — in short, they demand much of themselves…

We’ve all had days when we wish that we were back in bed, before we even climb out of it. Not long ago, I faced a situation — not a major one, but not so minor that it wouldn’t add its weight of stress — that looked like it would be either A) very bad or B) not particularly…

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