I’ve read many things about God’s judgement recently. Judgement of nations (particularly the USA) , judgement of groups (generally whichever one we don’t like at a particular moment) , and judgement of people. The concept of God’s judgement is apparently a very misunderstood and frequently misrepresented and since it has the potential to do great harm to a believer’s growth or an unbeliever’s understanding of the relationship between grace and holiness, I figured it deserves some more ink (or pixels as it were). ...

Last summer our family got the privilege to take 2 vacations lasting a week a piece with my mother, father, aunt, sister, and her family. Quite a few people in all including 7 children with ages ranging from 1 to 12 years old. During the first week we decided to hold nightly devotions and, being a spur of the moment decision, our lessons for both vacations were largely ad-hoc with minimal preparation (it was a devotion we held right before bed time after all). ...

Nomads (7/25/2005 @ 5:38 AM) I figured yall might want an update; and as the next few days are going to be extremely busy, I might as well sit down and let you know what is happening and how God has worked since I last wrote. It’s hard to believe but things went from bad to worse. While the bid on the house in Goshen hasn’t exactly fallen through; it might as well have. Some notes on it are: ...

Homeless (7/9/2005 @ 6:59AM) Please pray for our family as we will literally be homeless by the end of this month (June 31st). Beth and I were hoping to buy a house by the end of this month. Our plan was to close on a certain house we have/had a contract on by the 15th of this month and be able to move into it by the time our lease is up on the 31st. ...

The Promise (9/7/2005 @ 5:28 AM) God promises to “never leave nor forsake” us. This is something we hear and take for granted most of the time. However; when we are faced with trials and heartache, we cling to this promise. I’ve lost count how long it has been since we’ve moved down here to the In-Law’s house. So much has happened since then; a life has come to this earth, Kylee Gwenn Widner; and a life has left, Juanita Widner. We have even managed to keep a contract on a house and, God willing; we should close on it the 15th of this month. ...

“I am not a reader” This is the line repeated time and again during the second Q&A time after Paul Young, author of The Shack, delivered his presentation (This is in 3 services which the pastor claims are all different so you might want to listen to all three. I, however, only listened to the last one.) of his bestseller at Capitol Christian Center. Sadly, it shows. (Why would we ever consider a lack of reading a good thing? That is, unless we are captivated by personal experience instead of diligent study, but I digress..) ...

Listening for the voice or looking for the will of God are trendy topics these days. Much ink has been spilled and many conferences have been produced around the simple question; “What does God want me to do?”. WWJD indeed? For those of you who are wondering about the phenomenon I am talking about, here is an article that expresses the route most Christians take when attempting to answer the question above. ...

This is a response to a post a friend of mine recently made outlining a secular basis for morality (As opposed to a theocentric model where morality is ultimately based on God and His Law) centered on empathy or " the golden rule" as the objective standard by which we ought to order our lives. This comes as part of a long-running discussion where I maintain that, in order for morality to be of any substance (That is, not a myth.) , it must first be objective (That is, outside of myself.) , timeless (Not constrained by time and space.), and transcendent (Cannot change with time). To that end, I would like to offer two conjoined arguments in opposition to the proposed secular basis for morality based on empathy and the golden rule. ...

My wife and I recently moved to Atlanta and will soon begin “shopping” for a new church home. Since there are so few resources available when it comes to church shopping I figured I would post how we plan on doing it. I generally measure churches on two metrics: 1. Truth. Does their teaching contain substance? Is it true? 2. Love. Do their members love each other (KEY!) as much as they love outsiders? ...

The Cost (9/19/2005 @ 6:33PM) If something cost nothing, what is it worth? This question keeps coming up to me when I ask God why. David wrote “I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing”1. Anything worth having costs us something. Money, time, energy, comfort, or convenience; everything that holds any value in this world costs us something. Conversely, something’s value is in direct correlation with how much it costs. ...