In my last article I wrote about the sin of suicide. Self-murder is an act of ultimate despair. If you end your own life you believe, for whatever reason, that you will have no more good days ahead. Or if…
On the Necessity of Hope
Is Suicide a Mortal Sin?
With the death of Robin Williams, many people are talking a great deal about the tragedy of suicide. Sadly, many of us have known people who have taken their own lives. The shroud of darkness that covers a family that…
God in the Gaps
The phrase “God of the Gaps” refers to poor argumentation for the existence of the Supreme Being. There is a gap in our ability to explain things so we use God to explain what we have not been able to…
Jesus: The Word of God
John’s Gospel begins: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It is perhaps one of the most profound openings to any story ever written. When I teach this Gospel in…
Prayer Is Not Magic
“I prayed, but nothing happened.” How often have we heard these words? Maybe they came from someone in an argument about faith. Maybe they came from a child trying to understand God’s plan. Or maybe these words came from ourselves…
Lessons of the Sower, Part 4: The Good Soil
Previous posts in this series: Part 1: The Path, Part 2: The Rocks, Part 3: The Thorns. The final part of our series reflection on the Parable of the Sower is the happy ending. Now, I am a firm believer…
Lessons of the Sower, Part 3: The Thorns
In our last two articles we reflected on the nature of distraction and how Satan uses that to keep us from letting Christ into our lives, and how a merely emotional connection to faith will cause that faith to die….
Lessons of the Sower, Part 2: The Rocks
In our last article we reflected on the nature of distraction and how Satan uses that to keep us from letting Christ into our lives. Today, we are going to focus on the seed that fell on the rocks. Jesus…
Lessons of the Sower, Part 1: The Path
Sharing the joy of the Gospel is not always an easy thing. There are many challenges that lay before us. That is why Jesus told us the Parable of the Sower. In it, a man sows seeds which represent God’s…
The Hypocrisy Problem
Anyone who has tried to pass on the Gospel, be it in the classroom, in the home, or every day life, has encountered the hypocrisy problem. We are calling people to goodness and holiness. Yet most of us are keenly…