When I was a little girl I daydreamed about being a missionary. I imagined myself surrounded by dirty-faced, bright-eyed children whom I’d saved from some evil-doers, performing emergency surgery on an injured farm worker (highly unlikely since I can’t handle any bodily fluids), and getting all “Dead Poets’ Society” on a group of bright, impressionable, [...]
Archive for the ‘Practical Christianity’ Category
Sketchy motives in a hurting world
Posted in Adoption, Practical Christianity, justice, tagged Adoption, Haiti, help, motives, racism on February 2, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Morality for Society?
Posted in Jesus, Politics, Practical Christianity, tagged Jesus, pacifism, society on April 28, 2009 | 1 Comment »
There are many things that Jesus told us to do that just don’t seem to work. I mean, they don’t appear very helpful in achieving happiness, safety, comfort or respect, let alone wealth or power. I’m referring to things like turning the other cheek, blessing those who curse you, not worrying about tomorrow, not seeking [...]
What’s Wrong With Women?
Posted in Living, Practical Christianity, justice on April 21, 2009 | 3 Comments »
This is a question that has been coming up around me a lot lately, and always by women (men might wonder it too, but they know better than to say it!). In some ways it has been cool since my youth for a girl to say she just “gets” guys better, that she’s a tomboy, [...]
Compassion without understanding
Posted in Jesus, Practical Christianity, Uncategorized on April 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been thinking a lot about compassion and how much it depends upon understanding. This comes up a lot in my job, in which I interact often with folks from varied walks of life including generational poverty. I have worked hard to understand the realities of generational poverty, it’s causes, it’s culture and with this [...]
The Forgotten Culture: Generational Poverty in America
Posted in Practical Christianity, justice, tagged education, justice, poverty, Practical Christianity on March 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »
This is really more of an announcement than a proper blog post. One of my heros, Dr. Donna Beegle, is speaking at the First Presbyterian Church next Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00pm. Dr. Beegle is a respected expert on generational poverty, not only because she has studied it, but because she has lived it. Dr. [...]
The Appearance of Evil, Part 2
Posted in Practical Christianity, Religion on February 24, 2009 | 3 Comments »
So, I didn’t get out all I wanted on this subject. I think I was afraid of sounding too preachy, but heck, it’s a blog. It’s like a digital soapbox. What I think is really interesting and irritating about this subject, is not just how much this verse gets used, but how it is used [...]
The appearance of evil…the evil of appearances
Posted in Living, Practical Christianity, Religion on February 11, 2009 | 2 Comments »
One of the most frequently quoted verses in the Bible, from my experience, is 1 Thessalonians 5:22. You know, the one that goes “avoid the appearance of evil.” Now, I think this is a great verse and a very wise proverb, obviously, but I have been puzzled by how much it’s being used and how [...]
