Swimming Against the Riptide of Gender Bending

While on vacation at the ocean some time back, I was rafting some gentle waves and lost track of the shoreline.  When I looked up, I was far from land.  I immediately began to swim back for the beach but was caught in a strong current.  I fought hard for shore but was moving farther and farther from land.  There was a point where I thought I didn’t have the strength to make it back – in fact I had gotten very nearly to the point of no return.

I now have that same sense in regard to our culture.  Yesterday, the New York Times stated that the Department of Education would issue guidelines that schools should allow students to participate in activities and use facilities in accordance with the gender with which they identify.  These guidelines come with the threat of removing federal funds if schools do not comply.  I heard high school principals, state officials from around the country, and progressive educators explaining the benefits both for our students and our country.  Cultural elites are hailing this as a great day for fairness and an inevitable step of progress toward true equality for all.

Is it Time to Dispose of the Concept of “Sin” ?

A few (ahem) years back when I was in college, I encountered a fellow student who had a propensity to take things that did not belong to him.  He just could not help it.  He would see something he wanted, and the next thing you knew, he had it in his possession (much to the surprise of the former owner).  He stole from strangers.  He stole from friends.  He stole from me.  When I became suspicious of him, I set up a sting operation in my dorm room giving him an opportunity to prove me wrong.  Unfortunately, he failed the test, but I had prepared for this possibility.  I caught him red-handed and shame-faced.

Traditional Marriage – Facing a Painful Reality

I like war movies.  I guess I got that from my dad.  My father was a WWII veteran who lied about his age and volunteered as a 16 year-old to fight for America.  He was always quick to explain that his patriotism and desire for adventure greatly exceeded his knowledge of what he was getting into.  I have two sons of my own, the youngest of which is seventeen.  It is hard for me to imagine either of them going to Italy and fighting across the Apennine Mountains at the age of 17.   I can’t imagine having done so myself.  Yet my dad and many others did. I used to love to watch war movies with my dad and listen to him talk about the different battle tactics.

Messin' with Sasquatch Again?

After over a year, my post about Bigfoot  still garners more views than almost anything else I have written.  It seems the time is right to produce another ground-breaking intellectual piece on the subject.  Why? Have you seen it?  The new Spike TV reality show, 10 MILLION DOLLAR BIGFOOT BOUNTY?  I have to say I was both excited and nervous about this new reality show which I saw for the first time last night.  I also must say, unfortunately, that it failed to meet even my lowest expectations.

A&E Network and Cracker Barrel – Birds of a Feather?

The recent actions of both the A&E network and Cracker Barrel restaurants are similar signs of the moral confusion of the times.  These companies’ respective responses to the controversial comments of Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson give a revealing view of the corporate culture of each company.  Both A&E and Cracker Barrel have a carefully crafted, though very different, public image.  Each company portrays itself as clearly standing for certain values.  In the end, however, we see that neither company has any real convictions – other than the conviction that consumers are resources to be exploited for profit.

Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson and the Birth of Christ

It’s Christmas Eve.  I’m with my wife’s family preparing to celebrate Christmas and sitting alone in the quiet of the morning with my cup of black (there is no other kind) robusto coffee.  I look forward to the next few days with family.  In spite of all the negative commercialism, the pressure of shopping, and even some knowledge of the pagan roots of some of the traditions, I love Christmas.  It genuinely helps me to focus on the biggest question of life – “Why am I here?”  The coming of Christ is central to that.

It has always been obvious to me that I have a creator, even without Christianity and the Bible.  What is not as obvious is what this creator expects of me, if anything.  Condensing a great deal of comparative religious study and personal journey, I found Jesus to be the focal point for this determination.  If he really did come to earth in a miraculous virgin birth, his arrival is worth noting.  If he really did fulfill multiple prophecies, his life is worth considering.  If he really did perform miracles and teach things that cut to the core of the heart like no other, his words are worth hearing.  If he really did voluntarily die as a substitute to pay my debt for rebellion against my creator and rise from the grave showing his power over even death, he should be followed and followed on his own terms.  Where do we get those terms?  Well, they are recorded in the Bible.  The Bible is part and parcel of the Christian faith and is the key to understanding Christmas.

10 Lessons I Have Learned Blogging

One year ago today, I posted my first entry on Marking the Times.  I still don’t consider myself a blogger, but I have learned a few things these last twelve months.  I started blogging because writing down my ideas helps clarify them in my mind.  Knowing that others might read my opinions makes me think carefully about what I say.  I never really thought anyone would be interested in my thoughts, but I wanted to contribute to the conversation if I could.  I have been pleasantly surprised (maybe “shocked” is a better word) by the interest in my musings. Most of us like to know what others think about various topics – it helps refine our own thoughts.

I have been surprised to see how steadily the readership has grown.  No big fanfare, no explosive growth – just steady increases.  I am trying to avoid concerning myself with how many people are reading or if the monthly statistics are growing, but I am just as human as the next guy.  I do look, and I do watch to see if people are increasingly interested.

Chicken or Egg? Does Wealth Create Family Stability ?

While scanning news sites this morning, I saw a couple of headlines that caught my eye.  An article titled “Children suffer from growing economic inequality among families since recession” by Brigid Schulte was posted in the “Local” section of today’s Washington Post, but the implications of this article are anything but local.  The impetus for Schulte’s article is the report just released by Ohio State University social scientist Zhenchao Qian titled “Divergent Paths of American Families”.  Qian examined census and other data regarding income, poverty, and family status in the United States.  Both Schulte and Qian miss the point.



Now Flatulating Cattle are Driving Teens from the Church?

When I wrote my last post on Christians and climate change a few days ago, I had no idea the New York Times would publish the following article validating my points:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/science/earth/what-to-make-of-a-climate-change-plateau.html?_r=1&

Again, I'm not discounting the possibility of global warming - I'm just challenging the confidence of what we really know.  I've had some people come after me very aggressively for my views on the subject.  I just find an incredible amount of hubris in the environmental science world about an incredibly difficult to solve (mathematically) problem.  Forgive me if my wee bit of experience (OK, a little more than a wee bit) mathematically predicting physical phenomenon makes me skeptical of the confidence of the environmental climatologists.

All that being said, I want to reiterate that it really doesn't matter if the science is correct or not - Christians should be the first in line to take care of the planet, albeit without unnecessarily taking a "hair-on-fire" kind of approach.

The Legacy of a Logan Countian

Tomorrow we auction the home and farm where I was reared.  I remember the summer before I turned four-years-old when my father was building the house.  My mother took us to the construction site.  The walls were being framed.  My Mom and Dad took my twin brother and me to a corner of the house and said, "This is where your room is going to be!"  It was impossible for a three-year-old to imagine that room that was coming, but it is easy for this forty-eight-year-old to remember that day.

Ready the Millstone!

Matthew 18:6 (HCSB)
But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

For someone who tries to communicate with others through the use of the keyboard, my reserve of written words is very low at the moment.  In fact, I am sickened to the point of being nearly speechless.  I have just finished reading an amended lawsuit filed by former members against a relatively small but (up to now) influential evangelical denomination.  I am disgusted.  I am sickened.  My blood is boiling.

Boston Bomber Proves that Idle Hands Are the Devil's Workshop

Your grandma told you it was so: "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."  The story of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother of the Boston bombers, lends strong credence to this largely ignored wisdom.  In the article linked below, we see that Tsarnaev was apparently lazy before he was evil.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/tamerlan-tsarnaev-and-family-received-welfare_719056.html

Can Christianity and Freedom of Conscience Coexist?

I can't count the number of times I've heard what, to me at least, is possibly the most poorly reasoned charge leveled against Christianity.   It usually goes something like this:  "You Christians are so closed-minded and just want to force your beliefs on everyone else.  How arrogant to say you have 'the' Truth.  Why can't you just keep your beliefs to yourself?  Just go away!"  This attitude is getting a lot of play in the public square, with many people thinking they are doing the United States a favor by trying to suppress Christians from even admitting what they believe.  They apparently just want serious Christians to be gone.  Here's a recent example:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/teacher-fired-for-bible-nj-teacher-fired-for-giving-bible-to-inquisitive-student-93848/cpt

A New Era for Christians in America

Like any number of other (maybe "real" would be a better descriptor) culture observers, I came to the realization on November 14, 2012 that we were entering a new era for Christians in America.  After the second election of Barack Obama, there was no denying that "the times, they are a-changing."  The following months have only brought even greater clarity to that assessment.  Christianity is no longer culturally cool - at least not Biblical Christianity.  In fact, it appears the culture is heading toward downright antagonism toward historic Christianity.

Why This Blog?

OK -- here we go again with another blog.  Who needs another blog - right?  Certainly not me.  Yet here I am, starting a blog that I have no idea if anyone will want to read.  Why?  I guess it's really pretty simple.  I've always liked to try to craft ideas and put them into words.  When I write, it seems to clarify things for me.  When I visually see what's going on in "Mark's World", sometimes the cleverness and originality I think I have evaporates into a blur of meaningless text on a page. Writing brings my world into perspective.

I love to talk about ideas.  I hope to capture some of them here and use this forum as a collection point for them.  Maybe this blog will provoke thoughts in someone else.  Maybe it won't – I really don’t know. 

Starting a blog is a little bit intimidating.  Opening my thoughts up to a broader world carries a lot of risk.  It is easy to be misunderstood and unfairly criticized.  Riskier yet, my ideas may be clearly understood and still excoriated for what they are.  I guess it’s a risk worth taking.  Please feel free to join me as I ponder the things that make me think: things like faith, country, family, economics, politics and the news of the day.  Maybe we can all understand life a little more clearly as we think through the things that interest me as I "Mark" the times.