Safe Haven

I don't consider myself straight, as we understand the term. I confess that marriage was made for one man and one woman, alone. If I call myself "straight," all I'm telling you is that my tendency, for good and bad, would be to have sexual relations with women. If I have another category "gay," I'm validating homosexual relations on equal terms, without meaning to. Then the issue becomes like sports teams, like the Red Sox and the Yankees. You have your team and culture, and I have mine. We do this all the time in politics; we get really tense and passionate when we think the others want to take the little parcel we've carved out for ourselves. We're just animals, after all. We fight the hardest when cornered. This reality about marriage is not supernatural as such, but it fits with a worldview that accepts, and even suggests, that such things which would not and could not be known by reason alone have been revealed. I won't hide that from ...

The 14-time major champion was defeated in 5 sets at the US Open. His world ranking has dropped to 8, despite being considered one of the informal "Big Four" (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Nadal). Before you get all misty about what he once was, consider that he owns a 33-10 head-to-head match record against Roger Federer, widely considered the greatest of all time. Nadal has won the French Open 9 times. 9. Nobody ever has won more than 7 at any major tournament. Stew on that for a moment. Indeed, the 33rd-ranked male player in the world had to play the match of his life in order to prevail. That  is greatness. At times, losing makes it easier to see than winning. The time may be drawing to a close for he and other greats who came on the scene at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Yet I'm sure the victor would echo what another man said upon upsetting Federer some years ago, when asked about Federer's alleged decline: "I wish I could de...

I found out that a friend from high school succumbed to drugs and alcohol. I didn't know him well at that time, but a few years ago, he worked for me as a personal assistant. It was already starting to grab him then, but his fundamental goodness shined right through. I think he came to regret letting the drugs make him let me down. I just hope I did enough to encourage him in the love of God. Addiction is horrible, because once you are physically addicted to a thing, it's even stronger than what you want. People may have long ago decided that they couldn't fill that emotional hole with a substance, but they can't get out. It takes a ton of support, prayer, and a mighty effort. Maybe the hardest thing while watching it happen is not taking their failures as people too personally. They will have to account for those things once they get clear, but there is no amount of anger that will make it work. And if you're not careful, you'll poison your own soul with th...

5. It's like Goodell went, "I mean, nobody really likes Tom Brady, anyway, right?" 4. "Evidence? We don't need no stinkin' evidence!" 3. Always wear a helmet when riding a bike. Any bike. Anywhere. 2. Seriously, though, helmets. In other news, does anyone know why we don't spell it "helment"? 1. Nothing says "We take sin seriously" like a paltry opportunity to unburden yourself of it once a week for 45 minutes on a Saturday. Yes, it's changing in many places, as well it should.

If you're in the business of telling the truth, it can be a funny thing. Most truth-tellers are the sorts of people that have the obvious staring at them, and at least it appears no one else has noticed. He takes no special note of those who have a vested interest in keeping things as they are; he has a higher obligation. If you didn't know, I believe I am one of those people. The unique challenge is that an even higher obligation exists: to love as God loves. These things are closely related, of course. You can't love anyone by telling them lies, even comforting ones. Jesus is Truth Himself, so when you speak the truth, you are leading someone to Jesus. Still, we can be so fond of "telling it like it is" that we believe our own hype, that somehow the world needs us, and our special brand of frankness. Dear friends, we could be dead in the next few moments. Every time I see a sad post on social media about a sudden death, I am reminded. It is simply foolish ...

I know a few people that could be characterized as "bad guys." Fairly bad, violent criminal histories. I wouldn't necessarily say that I have an abundance of warm feelings at any one time, either, and I suppose that is precisely the point. Sure as the summer day is long, I'm telling you, I can see underneath it. We don't mean to deny that any of the stuff is truly heinous, and said person won't be held accountable by God, but if you have the eyes to see a person's true destiny, you can begin to pray for them to receive it, to be reconciled fully to God. I realize now that I can profess anything I like, but the true test of whether I believe God is love, or that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself is, could I see my greatest enemy on Earth, the one who's done me the most harm, in the Confession line behind me, and be happy? That's tough. That's not a human thing; you can't conjure that up in yourself. And every day, we f...

Did you hear that story of Robin Rinaldi, who gave up her wedding vows for a year? Do I need to tell you what happened? There was the story of a pastor who decided to try atheism for a year. Guess what happened. Each time, modern secular "forward-thinking" society nods its approval, and also professes surprise. I'm going to say that's mostly dishonest. They have always known of the intimate connection between profession and action; that's why Cranmer changed the liturgy; that's why Comte founded a "church." We actually have this foolish notion first of all that all possible choices we make are value-neutral. The other part is that we think they are on equal footing. If you express revulsion and disgust at a murderer, he'll disgust you further when he says, "Hey, don't knock it until you try it," but he's got a point. We become like what we do. Grace doesn't really allow Christians to say, "Fake it until you make...