This whole Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 thing has really caught a lot of people’s attention. Humans love a mystery, and they also like to speculate. Everybody fashions themselves as a bit of Crime Scene Investigator and the conversations at the coffee shop have been interesting to say the least. (Apparently we cannot rule out alien…
I am preparing to teach our youth group on Sunday night on the topic of Hinduism. I have a Masters Degree in Islam and a minor in comparative religions integrated with my Bachelors of Religious Education. I am not trying to set up my credentials, but to make sure anybody reading this knows that I…
Despite what many assume, I did not name Leah after a princess from a well known science fiction movie that came out in 1978, even though her brother’s name is Luke. She is named straight up for the Biblical character introduced in Genesis 29. And I feel like I need to clarify that we didn’t…
Linda and I just returned late on Tuesday night from a seven night stay at an all inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico. I had saved up money to take Linda there for her birthday. (35th or something like that . . .) We were both very ready for a vacation from…
Cue up the Christian slogans, another Christmas is here. “Put the Christ back in X-mas!” “Jesus is the reason for the Season!” “It’s pronounced ‘Merry Christmas’, NOT ‘Happy Holidays!'” Actually, I made that last one up, but I wouldn’t be surprised to get it back on a Facebook post pretty soon. As a Christian who…
If you’ve been around ReCAST for awhile, you may have observed a few places where random, hopefully amusing, phrases pop up. I do this because I think it’s fun and if we don’t have to be serious (and we must on occasion), let’s loosen up. One place I attempt this smile-cracking is the eCAST subject…
Every season brings a certain amount of joy to me. I enjoy all four and that makes Michigan a great home for me. I talk with many people who complain about winter and I wonder to myself why anyone would live in Michigan that hates the winter. But I also have identified a selfish streak…
I am going on a week and a half without Facebook. I deactivated my account last week after a run in with some very prurient content and that was the straw that pushed me over the edge. It is a decision that has been building up as I observed Facebook consuming more of my time,…
I came across the following quote from Timothy Keller in the book “Center Church.” He says, “Moralism eats away at real joy and humor because the system of legalism forces us to take our self (our image, our appearance, our reputation) very seriously.” [parentheses and italics in original]. That has indeed been my personal experience.…
“Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.” Genesis 20:6 I will leave it up to you to read and fill in…
I confess that I’m just not very politically minded, even with a Master’s Degree in political science. I glance at headlines from time to time, and I find the theories that attempt to explain human society and virtues like justice and fairness very interesting, but the ins and outs of Washington or Lansing just seem…
I need to clarify something I recently said in a video I posted online, and have decided to make it a blog post not only because it’s an opportunity to teach on God’s character, but also to comment on one particular aspect of a healthy church. We’ve been doing a Grow Vlog (video blog) for…
