Jesus & Lao Tzu: When Good Intentions Go Awry

Last updated on: February 8, 2025 at 9:15 am By Gregory T. Smith

Jesus and Lao Tzu warn against good intentions like knowledge, wisdom, charity, and righteousness. They can go awry. Curious? Keep reading… Even the things that seem like virtues can sidetrack faithful people. Similar to the last verse of Lao Tzu’s writing, verse nineteen addresses people’s inclination to sacrifice the best on the altar of the good. The sage contrasts the seeming virtues of knowledge and wisdom with the simplicity he invites you to embrace. Next, he places charity, righteousness, and... Read more

What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?

Last updated on: February 7, 2025 at 6:44 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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What’s on your bucket list? In just a few days, I will achieve a lifelong goal and visit Mayan ruins. What do you want to do before you die? In the city where I work many businesses decorate the outer walls of their buildings with interesting murals. One has taken a different route, covering their parking lot-adjacent wall with a single writer’s prompt. The wall leaves lots of room for the public to fill in the blanks with chalk. The... Read more

Love Knows No Borders: Walls, Deportations, & Tariffs

Last updated on: February 7, 2025 at 7:09 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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I live on one side of the US/Canada border and work on the other. Because of my commute, people often ask about my border experience. I think about borders more than most people. I am an American, living in Canada. Growing up in the US South, I never thought anyone would call me a Yankee. But up here I get it a lot, mostly with good-natured ribbing. Honestly, though, I don’t see much difference from one country to the next.... Read more

Jesus & Lao Tzu: Don’t Exchange the Best for the Good

Last updated on: February 3, 2025 at 3:00 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Christians spend so much energy trying to live right! But are we exchanging the best for the good? What’s better than righteous living? Jesus and Lao Tzu agree: the best thing is to quit trying to live right. That’s because, when we try to live right, we trade perfection for mere performance. Verse eighteen of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching disturbs many Christians who believe they can cultivate godly virtue through rule-following. These scrupulous believers give up the best thing... Read more

Renaming God Can Rescue Your Floundering Faith Today

Last updated on: January 30, 2025 at 8:22 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Too often, people abandon spirituality because Christians give God a bad name. But renaming God can rescue a floundering faith. “God” Doesn’t Work for Everyone Unfortunately, God doesn’t work for everyone. What I mean is, that the word “God” doesn’t resonate with many people anymore. Each person who has given up on a traditional Judeo-Christian concept of God has their reasons. Some have suffered emotional abuse and physical violence in God’s name. For others, God is too tied together with... Read more

Does Christianity Need a New Holiness Movement?

Last updated on: January 27, 2025 at 8:03 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Recently, someone told me that Christianity needs a new holiness movement. I agreed with them—but I meant it differently than they did. Usually, when you hear the term “holiness movement,” you get the image of Pentecostal camp meetings with revival preachers calling people forward for salvation. Holiness, they say, involves turning from sin to avoid the fires of hell. It involves things like baptism (in water and/or the Holy Spirit’s fire), personal piety, modest attire, and abstention from all things... Read more

Jesus & Lao Tzu: Lead Like Yoda

Last updated on: February 5, 2025 at 6:12 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Many know that George Lucas based The Force in his Star Wars movies on the Tao. Yoda exemplifies Taoist teacher Lao Tzu’s leadership style. Like Yoda and Lao Tzu, Jesus teaches servant leadership. This is vastly different from many leaders you see today. Instead of putting themselves forward, servant leaders put others in the driver’s seat. Here’s what Lao Tzu has to say in the seventeenth verse of the Tao Te Ching: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Verse 17... Read more

Inauguration: Donald Trump Claims Divine Power

Last updated on: January 26, 2025 at 7:52 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Trump claimed to be a god in his inauguration speech. Oh wait—I do, and he did! That’s a bold claim, I know. But read between the lines, and you’ll see there’s a lot that Trump isn’t telling you. One of those things is his claim to divine power. My last two articles examined Trump’s inaugural statements as they pertained to religion. My first article in the series, “Trump’s Inauguration Speech: Reading Between the... Read more

Inaugural Address: What is Trump NOT Telling You?

Last updated on: January 26, 2025 at 7:54 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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If you’re not careful, you might believe the religious rhetoric coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth. But what is he NOT telling you? In Donald Trump’s inaugural address, the President made nine statements pertaining to religion. My last article, “Trump’s Inauguration Speech: Reading Between the Li(n)es” examined the first three: “Give people back their faith” “One nation’s glorious destiny” “My life was saved for a reason” In this second of the series, I will look at three more statements the... Read more

Trump Inauguration Speech: Reading Between the Li(n)es

Last updated on: January 24, 2025 at 8:16 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Donald Trump had a lot to say about religion in his second inaugural speech. What’s between the li(n)es? What was Trump NOT telling you? My daughter has only seen one inaugural speech (Biden’s) other than Trump’s most recent one. She messaged me, noting all the religious language in his address. I told her that religious language is common in presidential speeches. You could bet money on a US President quoting scripture or at least saying “God bless America” as part... Read more

Who found the Book of the Law in the Temple during Josiah's reign?