Since I was young, I took great satisfaction in not conforming to the expectations of others. I’ve always had an ongoing desire to go against the grain and fight the status quo. Although being a ‘trailblazer’ was more an act of defiance, it was what I considered a way of being ‘progressive.’ In high school, I was one of the first students to turn 18 and legally buy alcohol. Yet I prided myself in being among a handful of students... Read more
As a young Catholic, I experienced much of what Evangelicals refer to as legalism. I believed that I could attain salvation simply by following the rules. Before I reverted back to the Catholic faith, I regularly attended a church with historical Plymouth Brethren roots. Depending on which of the sister-congregations I attended, the environment had varying degrees of conservatism. While I have every reason to be grateful for my friends who led me to faith in Jesus, I’ve noticed an... Read more
I dated a pastor’s daughter when I was 21, with whom I had long-drawn conversations about faith and religion. As someone who had only became a follower of Jesus a couple years prior, I asked her out of curiosity, “When did you first give your life to Christ?” “I guess I’ve always known Him,” she replied. “I’ve always been saved.” Interesting statement, I thought. How does being born of a religious family automatically make someone ‘saved’ by default? I’ve had friends... Read more
In the parish I grew up attending, the priest would sit directly behind the altar during the Scripture readings. His chair was elevated by a couple steps and was centered below the large crucifix mounted on the wall. It almost seemed like he was sitting on a throne to overlook the congregation. In my adolescent view, it kind of felt like people came to Mass to worship the priest. This was one of the many bothersome observations that motivated me... Read more
I attended my first Evangelical communion service at a Christian youth conference when I was 18. After a weekend of high-energy shenanigans, we began to wind down to hear the sermon of the night. The youth pastor brought forth a few loaves of Wonder Bread and hundreds of plastic shot glasses of grape juice. He stretched his hand and prayed over them before distributing it to the crowd of rowdy teens, including myself. At that time I had been debating on... Read more
Being a follower of Jesus is like riding a vehicle to reach a destination (cue Carrie Underwood song). Joking aside, when we ride as a passenger we are relying on the driver to bring us safely to our destination — that’s the very definition of faith. Usually when you ride with someone, a good chauffeur will always ensure you’re wearing your seat belt. While this may not be the most water-tight comparison, wearing a seat belt has some similar parallels with the... Read more
Locker-room Talk I remember in junior high school, locker-room talk was quite commonplace. When talking about girls in our class, sometimes I would get ridiculed for hesitating to participate in such sexually degrading talk. I would be lying if I said I was innocent of partaking in such vulgarity, but I was often teased and told I was gay for not sharing in the raunchy humor with my peers. I would sometimes join the conversation unwillingly to avoid being ridiculed in... Read more
In my article I Long For Christian Unity, I aired my grievances with the doctrinal disunity among Christian denominations. My experiences with chronic, inconsistent biblical exegesis among Protestants are among the biggest contributors to my eventual return to Catholicism. But in spite of boasting about enjoying unity for nearly two millennia, the Catholic Church suffers much internal dysfunction. And now that I’m back in communion with the Church that claims to be founded by Christ Himself, it pains me to... Read more
My first official exposure to metal music was when I was in the sixth grade. My friends and I recorded our own radio show for a group project. We wrote a script, chose songs to be played between skits and recorded it in an empty classroom. A friend brought Marilyn Manson’s ‘Antichrist Superstar’ album which belonged to their older sibling. We closed the door, cranked the song Beautiful People and danced moronically on desktops while dubbing the song on cassette. I... Read more
The Culture of Instant Gratification As someone who grew up on a farm, my earliest job experiences involved doing chores. It wasn’t until I was 12 years old when I started to get paid to do work on the farm. I spent my weekends mowing the lawn, pruning trees and piling branches in the middle of the field to burn. Just before my school year had finished, I had enough money saved up to buy a Nintendo 64 gaming console.... Read more
Coffee and Crucifix
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