“Mainstream Information Kitchens” Serve Up Junk News

There are, give or take, a half-dozen fast-food joints on every corner of every neighborhood in the country. Junk food is readily consumable. Likewise, mainstream information kitchens are serving up junk news on every corner of the Web and society. Junk food chains have been feeding America for decades; they have a long history of providing “wholesome,” accessible food to the masses, and have been immensely popular and trusted for generations. Mainstream media is also the popular choice, possessing an image of trustworthiness that seems to be held at the revered level of fatherly advice, by all who consume their information. But, like the cheap “meal deal” that initially satisfies the appetite, junk news has no nutritional value and, in the end, leaves society mentally obese and sickly. Yet so many hunger all the more for it, attempting to fill their need for the meat of truth, but instead rely on spoon-(Buzz)feedings of misinformation like toothless infants gumming puréed bananas.

America has binged, but now it’s time to purge FaceBurger, McTwitter, CNNabon, Jack In The Vox, Long Salon Silver’s, NPRbucks, Atlantic E. Cheese’s, Slateza Hut, Politico Bell, MSNB Seafood, Huffkin’ Donuts, Dairy Kos, New York Wild Wings and Snopesway, or your mental physique will start looking like Michael Moore.

Next time: I’ll compare state and federal leaders to Little Caesars.

Does Physical Health and Safety Trump Spiritual Health and Well Being in the Church?

Jesus said, “the gates of hell (literally, gates of death) shall not prevail” against His church (Matthew 16:18). Even death itself cannot prevent Christ’s church from carrying out its God-given calling to gather for worship and preach the gospel to all the world. There is no other purpose the church exists to serve. Without these two basic components, the church is simply not a church. But it has in fact survived the last two thousand years, despite unimaginable persecution, bloodshed, and affliction. If not for those who “loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11), it would have been prevailed against, yet Scripture says that they conquered “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (ibid.)—those “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). 

Church: the COVID-19 threat simply isn’t as it seems. Even if it were—even if it wiped out a third of the population—there is still no valid reason to ever stop gathering. Throughout history, in times of war, intense persecution and, yes, even in the midst of plague, the church faithfully found ways of gathering and worshiping—even when it meant their own risk of health or safety. There was nothing that could prevent them from obeying God and worshiping Him every Lord’s Day, somehow, some way. We in today’s church need a good dose of this mindset. Having courage in times like these, when the government has unilaterally and unlawfully determined what the church can and cannot do, whatever the reason (though COVID-19 quarantining is unjustifiable on its own), is imperative to fulfilling our calling as the people of God, yet we must be courageous together. We stand as one body, though we are individuals (1 Corinthians 12:27), so we will be stronger together, than on our own. Sadly, many church leaders—those who are charged with keeping watch over our souls (Hebrews 13:17)—have clearly lost sight of what is most important and have apparently preferred to not stand out in the crowd and then accept the media narrative, over ensuring their flocks are being sufficiently cared for spiritually. It’s no easy thing, risking one’s life for the gospel, and it doesn’t come with absolute fearlessness, but it is certainly a biblical attitude to which all Christians should aspire, one that we should be fostering rather than avoiding, and one that will unquestionably be put to the test in the days and years to come. This is the attitude of losing our lives for Christ. We must encourage one another to stand, or we never will. But, by the strength of the Lord God Almighty, we shall.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. – Luke 17:33

Greater Love

Love is no greater, no greater than this—
It isn’t a smile, a word, or a kiss,
It isn’t a helping hand, isn’t a mate,
Greater love, surely, is greater than great…

Greater, indeed, than the deeds that some boast,
Who understand mysteries greater than most,
Who move mighty mountains, and other such claims,
Greater love’s fame is the greatest of fames…

Love in the greater sense, gives more than gold,
It doesn’t wear out, neither does it get old,
It doesn’t hide light under baskets or jars,
Greater love shines, more than ten billion stars…

Greater supremely, and nothing compares,
It loves not itself, but in anguish it bears,
For love that is greater, has no one than this,
That one lay his life down for friends who are his.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

A Brief Message From Future Me

I come with a message from the year 2020!

You in 2011 won’t believe what’s happening in the future! Donald Trump is President of the United States… a killer virus has taken over the world… all non-essential people have locked themselves up in their houses with beer and Netflix… It’s mass hysteria! Thankfully, masked Mandalorians have been (self-) appointed to Neighborhood Watch patrol, protecting unsuspecting citizens from the “spreaders”! And we’ve also received a life-changing revelation that we can pass onto our children: separation is togetherness. Phew! I had it all wrong! No wonder… I once thought good was good, bad was bad, sick was sick, and healthy was healthy—but society has set me as straight as a flattened curve on all that stuff. It takes a lot, getting used to it, though… So, if you’re one of those clear, objective types, you may find 2020 utterly confusing when you arrive. My advice: brush up on logic—in fact, stockpile it for the future, the way we’re stockpiling toilet paper for the great economy flush-off. Trust me, it’ll stand out like Groucho glasses on the Mona Lisa. Oh, one last thing: if you’re a Christian, you‘ll still have something to look forward to… drive-in church services with police escorts!

Well, anyway, welcome to my blog! I can’t promise it’ll get better, but it definitely can’t get any worse! One thing I’m confident of: it’ll be full of real truth, perhaps like you’ve not heard before, because the Christianity most people know, is a ridiculous caricature, and I aim to fight against all misrepresentation, to present it as it was intended, with stuff that’ll likely still anger many—because the Word of God is a spiritual thing, and our human nature is not. They don’t play well together. But I’ll just leave the truth here; God can open the readers’ eyes, whenever He sees fit. With open eyes, this blog will anger less, and encourage more. Just don’t be too surprised if you start seeing walking trees turning into people (Mark 8:22-25).