The word “prodigal” means “wastefully or recklessly extravagant, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the term used anywhere but in reference to Jesus’ parable of the ‘prodigal’ son (Luke 15.11-32).Prodigals have gregarious personalities that attract people.  They are surrounded by friends.  They find risk-taking to be thrilling and take lots of chances.  Rules, for them, exist to be broken.  Prod...  Read More

The real division in America is over differences regarding who is the real enemy of our country that needs to be battled.WWI toppled Europe’s monarchies and Europe scrambled to become “democratic”.  Many European thinkers favored a Marxist approach to democracy. Marxists see the great evil in the world as inequality, and material inequality in particular.  The upper classes have more because they ...  Read More

When I was a child my parents trained me in Christian behavior – to be patient and kind, to endure ridicule and repay it with kindness, and to show friendship to any child so ostracized and ridiculed.  This was a solid moral foundation for my life.  I was a good child.  A nice child.Around middle-school, I endured bullying and repeatedly turned the other cheek, in obedience to what I had been taug...  Read More

People are divided over Donald Trump perhaps more than any other President in history.  So let me first address those of you who can’t believe that any Christian in his right mind could ever vote for Donald Trump.I didn’t vote for Trump in the primary.  Early on I was vociferously against him.  There is much about the man that isn’t likeable.  Trump presents as an arrogant narcissist obsessed with...  Read More

Perhaps one of the most divisive political figures in American history was President Donald Trump.  Christians are divided about him.  Some don’t see how a Christian could ever vote for Donald Trump while others don’t see how Christians could do anything but vote for Donald Trump.Let’s talk a little bit about navigating the problem of President Trump.  (I’m pretty sure it’s going to take more than...  Read More

The government narrative through the pandemic has been that the virus is lethal and you will probably be hospitalized and may even die if you contract it, and the only way to contain it is locking down our businesses, keeping social distance, and wearing masks until a vaccine is created.  Once we have a vaccine, we will be safe.Half the nation accepted this narrative and did what they were told an...  Read More

Our church also navigated divisive issues regarding the covid vaccines.  Let’s set the background for this issue first.Americans have for a long time been accustomed to FDA approval of medications taking a long time.  FDA approval usually requires years of testing and review to guarantee that medications are safe for the public.Despite this extensive testing, some FDA-approved medications end up b...  Read More

First we were told that President Trump was overreacting to COVID, that socializing in public was completely safe.  Within weeks the story changed.  We were told to fear for our lives, that two million Americans would die, and that President Trump was not doing enough to stop the virus.First we were told to sanitize because the virus spread via hard surfaces.  A few weeks later we were told the vi...  Read More

Let’s talk about a political division we navigated in our church a couple years ago:  reopening amidst the pandemic. First, a few quick vignettes of some pertinent background…  On January 31, 2020, President Trump banned flights from China, the known epicenter of the virus, to prevent it from spreading through the US.  Candidate Joe Biden accused Trump of xenophobia.  The virus was no big deal. At...  Read More

After the 2016 election, I mentioned to an old friend that I had voted for Trump.  That friend began ranting that I was a Nazi and a white supremacist (among other things).  Reasoning got me nowhere.  After several days of unsuccessfully attempting to smooth hostilities, I blocked that friend.I had another friend, this one a conservative, who attended the January 6th rally.  While I was watching c...  Read More

America’s first “constitution”, the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789), failed because the central (Federal) government was too weak to maintain the union between the states.  A new Constitution to form a more perfect union by providing for stronger central government was proposed in a series of eighty-five newspaper articles (The Federalist Papers).  In the tenth article, James Madison says th...  Read More

Standing before the tree in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were faced with polarized interpretations of reality.God had said, “You will surely die”.The serpent said, “You won’t surely die”.The first pair had to choose one pole or the other.There was no middle ground.American politics during my lifetime has been about seeking middle ground between Republicans and Democrats.  Many of us didn’t lik...  Read More