Soul and Spirit

Christmas Gifts

The Birth and Reception of Jesus

Have we become misdirected in our gift giving?

God freely and generously gave His best to those who had never given Him anything of significant value. God even gave His best knowing that most would give nothing in return. We have become conformed to the world in our Christmas-time gift giving. Has the time arrived when we should come to an agreement in our churches and in our families that we will give their gift and their card to the needy instead? “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same” (Luke 6:33; see also 14:12-14).

(Written way back in 1992 sometime.)

LA Times and Civil Disobedience

When is civil disobedience right, especially for us Christians?

Recently someone at the LA Times had this to say:

Christian leaders’ stance on civil disobedience is dangerous

Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders are going too far when they declare they will break laws on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Philosophers have argued for centuries over whether it is ever justifiable to break the law in the service of a higher cause. The question acquired a new complexity with the advent of societies such as the United States, in which laws were enacted by elected representatives and not decreed by a monarch or dictator.

Few today would criticize civil rights activists, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for participating in or condoning the violation of laws that perpetuated white supremacy — with the understanding that they would face punishment for their actions. But such civil disobedience is rightly regarded as the exception that proves that the proper redress for unjust laws lies in legislation or in court rulings based on the Constitution.

That cautious approach has been thrown to the wind by Christian religious leadersRead it all

Unexpected Vehicle at Night

Yup. It happened last night.

We live on a lonely-at-night country road — up a somewhat-long, somewhat-tree-shrouded driveway.

And a car showed up. (Yeah, there were people in it.)

Unannounced.

So I gave our big black dog my special whistle to switch him from Welcome Waggin’ mode to Vicious Attack K9 mode. Then I took down the double-banger shotgun from over the back door and opened the door.Read it all

Their Parents Died

And So Did His Camel

Rescue units restore hope in the form of vegetables

According to the Encyclopedia of Nations, Zambia’s population totaled 10.8 million in 2003. Of those, 600,000 are AIDS orphans.

[…]

Bob Bland with Teen Missions said, “[The orphans] are not taught the things they would normally learn in a village situation, such as how to grow a garden, because there’s no one to train them. At our rescue units, one of things we do is try to help them grow gardens.”

Often times, they lack the tools needed to plant, but Teen Missions provides what they need. “To do that, we provide a hoe,” Bland said.

So far, these orphan gardens have proven very successful, and in one village, a child’s garden is the only source of vegetables for a whole village.

Teen Mission has 33 rescue units throughout Zambia working to provide safety, food, medical needs and education to these orphans.

Read it all

Bonnet Rippers

Branches that hang low and ruin passing coverings on female Amish heads? I wish...

I learned a new expression day before yesterday: Bonnet Books. So I Googled it and learned another new one: Bonnet Rippers.

Great. Just great.

There’s a new kind of romance novel out there and its plot includes forbidden love, a mysterious outsider and a heroine who has to decide between new love and her old life.

But these are not sexy Harlequin-like romances nicknamed bodice-rippers.

These are bonnet rippers.

Amish love stories are occupying many of the top spots in religious fiction.

[…]

The books’ plots usually include a young Amish woman who falls in love with an outsider. The woman is young enough, however, that she has not yet officially entered the Amish church, so she still can make a decision to leave the community.

[…]

In most cases, the woman does leave with the community and the reader perceives a happy ending.

If she doesn’t turn her back on her faith, does the book qualify as a bonnet ripper? (Get it? In case you don’t…she keeps her faith and her bonnet, ripping neither.)

One more quote from the article:

The books are marketed at conservative Christian readers, often showing up in devotional sections of bookstores.

Those things qualify as devotional?! 🙄

Source: ‘Bonnet rippers’ new kind of romance novel

Above all, love God!