Food for Thought

The Top 5 Reasons that Grace is a Threatening Idea

GraceGrace is an important Biblical word that is expressed in a variety of ways throughout the Bible. It generally conveys the idea of favour or good-will.

The fundamental idea is, that the blessings that are graciously bestowed on us are freely given, and not in consideration of any claim or merit. In a world obsessed with justice, penalty, and “fairness,” the idea of grace is down right heretical.

Here are the top five reasons grace is often rejected. Continue reading The Top 5 Reasons that Grace is a Threatening Idea →

Food for Thought

High Wind

Angry FaceSeeing an umbrella take flight in the 40-50 mph winds blowing through Merced on that November Wednesday was not a surprise.

Trees were stripped of their leaves. Shingles were blown off roofs. Property owners had to rake their lawns, covered by debris. So it was only logical that an umbrella would join the aerobatics.

The umbrella had been roosting above a table and chairs sitting outside a local coffee shop. It landed in the westbound lane of a busy street and forced a large pickup truck to screech to a stop in the intersection. Continue reading High Wind →

Editorials, Food for Thought

The Importance of the Arts

Fat Lady SingingRichard Florida wrote about the importance of the Arts in his best-seller-book, The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida writes that “The nation’s geographic center of gravity has shifted away from traditional industrial regions toward new axes of creativity and innovation.” Page 11.

Arts are important to cities that want to promote social and economic growth. People flow to the places where creativity and innovation exist, yet, ironically, the Arts are frequently what first get cut in stressed budgets. This has been evident in the national demise of arts programs in our schools despite the fact that they contribute positively to the educational experience. Continue reading The Importance of the Arts →

Food for Thought, Life in general, theology

Choices We Make

Bosch's HellHell is, pardon the pun, a hot topic these days.

The lightening rod that put the topic of Hell on our collective front page was Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. The book made the pages of local newspapers, news magazines, and religious journals. Some were comforted by its message, and others were downright mad about it. Continue reading Choices We Make →

Food for Thought

The Problem of Evil

Crying FaceHe and his wife were childless at a time when one would normally hear the sounds of children echoing throughout the house.

Well-meaning friends told him that God didn’t want them to have children. “God has something else in mind for you,” they assured, apparently thinking that was comforting information. Their knowing assurances only made him angry. Angry at his comforters and angry at God. Continue reading The Problem of Evil →

Editorials, Food for Thought

Five Books About Faith

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Apologetics is the practice of defending a position, usually religious, through the use of reason. It is an especially useful practice in our pluralistic society known for its tsunami of ideas.

There are enough apologetical books to fill a room, however, only a few are needed for helping to sort out the questions that surround whether to believe in God or not. Skepticism without complete information is foolish. Faith without skepticism will not stand the fires of examination. The following is a short list of recommended books on the subject of belief. Continue reading Five Books About Faith →

Editorials, Food for Thought, Missional

What’s so bad about religion?

Prohibition Signre·li·gion
noun
[ri-lij-uhn]
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.
2. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices.
4. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith, something one believes in and follows devotedly.

It’s a universal law of conversation; you can’t talk about politics or religion. Too inflammatory. Conversation about either erupts into argumentation and worse. Continue reading What’s so bad about religion? →

Editorials, Food for Thought, Life in general

Fear sells!

The ScreamFear sells books. Like the one a man was reading in a local coffee shop about how to stock your pantry for the coming apocalypse.

Fear sells magazines. Like the Newsweek cover that recently declared, “Apocalypse Now.” In that article, writer Simon Winchester declared that recent quakes in New Zealand and Chile, has ratcheted up the chances of a catastrophic seismic event striking in California.

Fear sells medical quackery like it did when thousands of people bought potassium iodine to protect them from the radiation cloud they feared was coming from Japan. Continue reading Fear sells! →

Food for Thought, LifeSpring Church, Missional

Red Letter Edition

Curt Cloninger
Curt Cloninger is a one-man show, and he travels all over the U.S. performing shows about faith, God, and Jesus.

On Sunday, April 17 Curt will be visiting in Merced at LifeSpring Church. Rather than having our usual sermon on that day, Curt will be our “sermon” as he performs his Red Letter Edition. This particular show is based on the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Curt puts them in contemporary language and makes his audiences think.

For more information about Curt, you may go to his website at this link. Take a look at some of the video clips, and you will get a good idea about the quality and content of his work. The public is cordially invited to attend.

Worship starts at 10:00 at Playhouse Merced. Parking and entrance are from the 16th Street side of the theatre.

Writing is life!