Mental Musings

I was recently in a group setting where we were asked about Thanksgiving traditions with our families. I realized that I was the only one in the group who did not grow up with lots of family joining us for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We never lived close to other family members, so we typically had just our immediate family at home for the holidays. And some of those were without my dad while he was deployed during war time. I can still remember sitting around a reel-to-reel player listening to a tape my dad made while onboard his ship as he wished us all a Merry Christmas. I don't remember if he was home for Christmas, but I can remember that tape as well as the hours of Christmas music that he had taped from the Armed Forces Radio Network that was piped throughout his ship. Even though it was typically just my parents, my sister, and my brother, we usually sat down at a table with more food than we could eat in a week. My dad would always have something to say or some s

God is love. That is true. The Bible tells us that in many different passages, but none as clearly as 1 John 4:8 & 16. But that is only one characteristic of God, even though it is the one characteristic that is often used to excuse sinful lives by a selfish world. Most people describe God as a loving God. Until something happens that they don't understand, then God becomes the punching bag of society. I believe that Christians have not been as successful or as burdened with witnessing because we have focused so much on God's love. Many people do not feel the urgency to accept Christ as their Savior because they cannot imagine a loving God condemning people to an eternity in Hell. And others reject God because they cannot believe in a loving God who will allow pain and suffering. The church's focus on a loving God has enabled the world to see a perverted religion. A religion that has been minimized to a jolly, smiling, good-natured God who stands above, but does