Closer To Heaven
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Photo: Altaf Hussein I remember the first time I saw her. It was 49 years ago, and we were in the college cafeteria just after semester break. She was a new face on campus and being not “socially attached” to anyone at the time, I immediately began to plot how best to impress her and get a date
Photo: Dreamstime I’m getting to that age (aka, old-ness) when I find myself saying, “We didn’t have THAT when I was a kid.” I’m constantly amazed at how quickly technology races forward. Just the other day I was explaining to my teenager what a “Pen Pal” was. How I used to write letters—with paper and pen and envelope and stamp—and send them to a girl my age who lived in another part of the world. “Oh, like e-mail?” she said. Uh, yeah.
Photo: Dreamstime Cluelessness. It’s an inescapable fact of our limited human experience.
Photo: Dreamstime Contrary to popular opinion, God does not use hell to try and scare people into heaven. Fear is never an effective motivator, and we know that God makes love the centerpiece of his relationship with humanity; “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16) But everyone does not choose to follow God’s way, and because of this our planet is on a downward spiral to the grave. If left to ourselves we would completely destroy one another and the earth
Photo: Dreamstime A red Christmas bow perched on a shiny new car makes you immediately think of a Lexus. Even the first musical notes of a familiar theme can warn viewers that a Cialis TV ad is about to air. Successful branding happens when words build a reputation: “You’re in good hands.” So how is our Christian brand doing these days?
Photo: Mary R. Vogt Perhaps you caught the story a few years ago online: A 56 year-old inventor and author predicted that human immortality is no more than 20 years away! In preparation for this breakthrough, MIT graduate, Ray Kurzweil’s daily regimen includes ingesting 250 supplements, 10 glasses of alkaline water and 10 cups of green tea.
Photo: Allan Browne Is addiction a sin? Or is it a disease? Is it a choice, or is it an accident?
Photo: Dreamstime A few weeks ago, my roommate and I found ourselves in quite a quandary. After months of longing and wanting and wishing for a room on the first floor—where all our friends were—one opened up.
Photo: Dreamstime A preacher peers out at his congregation and announces: “Now, folks, verse 17 in this passage is one of the most difficult to understand in all of Scripture. So let’s go on to verse 18!” To this day, I have no clue what Peter means about Christ “preaching to the spirits in prison.” Does this corroborate the concept of purgatory? I don’t think so, but it’s simply a convoluted passage
Photo: Leroy Skalstad So let me ask you right off, Are you happy?
