There was quite a bit of conversation last week after I posted about the benevolent act of Philip Workman, a man executed in Tennessee last week for murder. The initial comments put me deep in thought and I’ve been trying to think through my values and ethics and trying to make sure I’m not holding double standards. This is not a direct response to those comments, but it was provoked by those thoughts. Today, I simply wanted to write a brief devotional thoughts post about some of the heroes of …

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. -Jesus“
Given that some readers of this blog get the idea that I’m a pretty sad person, I felt it might be important to point out a component of my faith that I sometimes take for granted, and don’t speak out much. I’m a Christian Hedonist, this is definitely a topic for another time, but I basically want to mention that I don’t live a life Trying …

It’s Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, a holy day to many, a day for chocolate and presents for many more. I’ve been thinking for a while about what I wanted to say about today. I’m well aware that not everyone who comes across my writings here believes in God, nor do many believe in the Bible or Jesus Christ in any way as authorities. I’ve appreciated those who have stuck around and interacted with me despite my off-the-wall radicalism and extremism at times, and have taught me many things I would …

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store …

The name Se7en might be cheesy, more so maybe because it was a complete rip-off of 5ives. I thought it would be fun though to start making brief collections of verses on various topics (ones I like to talk about). This might be a weekly thing, or maybe not. Let me know what you think

Luke 12:15 — “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ ”
Mark 12:43-44 — “Calling his …

I haven’t had the guts, honestly, to put together a post about the title of my blog, Trying to Follow. For now, this devotional thought is going to be pretty close to an explanation.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number …

I haven’t been writing many devotionals lately, so I’m going to start. I think there should be some explanation of what I intend to do here. First, I know that there are many folks who read my blog who are not ‘Christian’ and many who do not see the Bible as an authoritative document. There are others who read this who will understand the Bible passages I reference as God’s Word and it will carry that authority. I hope these brief devotional thoughts (which I intend to write weekly …

I might be the only one, but Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats freaks me out sometimes. I’m a Christian, I don’t really shy away from that, and as such I believe there is an afterlife, like some form of Heaven and Hell (though probably not quite in the way we’re typically describing it).  As you might know most Christian’s also believe that your eternal destiny is not something you earn by racking up a certain number of goody points above and beyond your dirty little secrets, I …