“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil . . .” (1 Tim 6:10). Sure, America is a democracy. However, over the next several posts I would like to suggest that it isn’t as rosy as we might believe. It is commonly believed that American democracy is the best form of government and that America has a responsibility to spread democracy to the world. This conviction is so ingrained in our society that one is... Read more
Time seems to have lulled us into a state of apathy or complacency. Some of us have seen the horrors of what is taking place in Gaza, and we have had to turn away. Others have tuned it out altogether. But we cannot do so. People are dying. I don’t care for a minute if you are pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. War is not good for anyone. Except for those in power! NB: Beginning this week (July 11, 2024, 5:00 PST/8:00... Read more
I have pleaded throughout the past 9+ mos that we endeavor to view the war on Gaza from the perspective of innocent women and children—be they Israelis or Palestinians. The death of one child, one young person, one grandmother, one father, or one sister is too many. In my last post, I began to ask: “Why don’t we look at this war from the perspective of the oppressed?” Over the course of several posts, I intend to point out that... Read more
I was watching the game the other day when, at a critical moment, the umpire made a horrendous call, costing my team the game. It was unbelievable. This same umpire has done this to us before. For some reason, he has it out for us. The league is behind this too. After all, every time this umpire makes a call like this, they never discipline him. What we do with sports, we do with life. We are really good at... Read more
What was Nikki Haley thinking? Last week, a video surfaced in which Nikki Haley (former US delegate to the UN and Republican Presidential candidate), while visiting Israel, was seen signing a bomb. I hope this sounds like lunacy to you. Unfortunately, it gets worse. Now, it is one thing for someone to support Israel and its siege on Gaza. After all, you might be persuaded that Israel has a right to defend itself. Or that Israel has no choice but... Read more
I’m not saying I am perfect; it is just that I don’t make mistakes. We all do it. We struggle to admit we are wrong. Surely I’m not mistaken, it must be you. We do it with our favorite sports teams. If we were to ask, “Was that a foul?,” “Was that a touchdown?,” or “Was he safe?” The answer almost always depends on what team you are rooting for. For Raiders fans, Tom Brady’s “tuck rule” was a fumble.... Read more
What Makes America Great? In light of my recent series, “Why I believe the US is the Beast (empire),” some of you may suspect that I am anti-American. This is not true. I believe that power and money influence those in power and that the US and most governments embody this power. But that doesn’t make the US or any other government inherently evil. It merely makes them something of which we should be wary. Nor does it mean that... Read more
NB: This is a guest post from Determinetruth’s Danny Hall It’s complicated When anyone asks me what I think about the current Israel/Gaza conflict this is the first thing that comes into my mind. The region has a very complicated history, with multiple and often competing narratives of how we arrived at the current situation. These narratives are driven by a mix of history, ethnicity, interference by occupying and colonial forces, geopolitical tensions that extend far beyond the region, and... Read more
When it comes to Israel, Gaza, Russia, and Iran many Christians are decidedly in favor of Israel. There is a sense in which this is fine. After all, Christians’ support for Israelis could be considered an example of loving our neighbor. In my last post, I laid a foundation arguing that the mission of God’s people is to make Christ known and that we do so by loving our enemies with a Christlike, self-denying, cross-bearing love. My question is, “Why... Read more
We need to push the envelope. So here goes. Amidst the noise of global conflicts and geopolitical strife, one resounding question reverberates: Where does our allegiance truly lie as Christians? Many Christians proclaim a love for Israel as God’s chosen people. I wonder if we have conflated the love for a people with the love for a nation. I’ll come back to this point in my next post. Yet, amidst the tumult of Gaza and Israel, and now Iran and... Read more
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