Mrs. Clinton: You are a Human, You Have a Right to Life, and the Constitution Has Nothing to Do With It

Last updated on: April 3, 2016 at 10:46 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Secretary Clinton is (sort of) right when she says the “unborn child does not have rights” under the Constitution of 1789. In fact, all children have important limitations placed on their Constitutional rights. Children have no “right to vote” until they are eighteen. They have limited freedom of speech until they are no longer children. Parents can “force” their children to attend church or refuse them permission to go to religious services. Unborn persons share in those limits. For some... Read more

So Things Are Not So Bad. . . Right?

Last updated on: April 2, 2016 at 11:18 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

I feel cheerful and I am afraid to admit it. I learned a very big lesson fifteen years ago when speaking to a Christian group: cheerfulness does not sell. When I pointed out (then) that we had a decade before the battle for traditional Christian morality was lost forever, most groups would listen and line up for questions. When I pointed out that we were also making moral progress in other areas and life was getting better, people got mad.... Read more

Misunderstood, but not by God

Last updated on: April 2, 2016 at 1:30 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

Motives are mixed because in people that’ s what motives do: they confuse themselves and work out in all kinds of actions. Probably the best way to stop God’s work is to sit down and wonder why one is doing what one is doing. Who can be sure? Sometimes we sit doing nothing, examining our hearts until the moment to act is past, fearful that we will do something good with bad motives. This is a special insanity that inflicts the... Read more

Miracles, Belief, Politics, and a Sane Life

Last updated on: March 31, 2016 at 11:52 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Miracles in a Sane Life I once watched a person run from a meeting cursing God. My father followed the man out of the meeting and rebuked demonic powers in the name of Jesus. The fleeing man flew up in the air exactly as if he had been cross body blocked. He did not crumple, he did not fall, he flew through the air and landed in the dirt. He got up in his right mind. What do I make... Read more

Unafraid of Risk Without Being a Lunatic

Last updated on: March 31, 2016 at 12:12 am By John Mark N. Reynolds

A wonderful side of living motivated by love is being unafraid of risk without becoming a lunatic. I watched my Mom and Dad model sane risk taking based in their love for each other, us, and for the people they were serving. Some interesting and wonderful people stayed with us and my brother and I, being upstairs, would often go to sleep to the murmuring sounds of late night counseling sessions. You could not hear (generally!) what was being said,... Read more

Love God and Do What You You Will

Last updated on: March 29, 2016 at 11:46 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Between the state of the Presidential race and a world where a pastor is crucified on Good Friday, one could be . . . anxious. It is never good to act from anxiety. How do I know? Believe me. I know. How can I avoid doing things out of anxiety? This happens when I am filled with love . . . a sentiment vague enough to be nearly useless, trite enough to be annoying, but true enough to demand explanation.... Read more

Listening to Lucy: The Short Way to God

Last updated on: March 28, 2016 at 11:55 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

The know-nothing and the pseudo-intellectual are the same personality type in different zip codes. The know-nothing cannot be taught, because even the possibility he might be wrong enrages him. The pseudo-intellectual cannot be taught, because he already knows the truth and has the credentials to prove it. This is even true of the pseudo-Socratic personality that will ask questions within a range of possibilities, but never allow himself to be challenged in ways that would cut him off from modern... Read more

What Easter Tells Us About Christianity and Reason

Last updated on: April 4, 2016 at 11:45 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

Meet an “Internet atheist” (as opposed to someone in higher education) and you will hear that “faith” is opposed or incompatible with reason. No. That’s not what most Christians believe. Cite Thomas Aquinas, John Chrysostom, and CS Lewis as examples of Christians who gave reasons for faith and you are met with a blank stare. These Christian “intellectuals” are not the “true believers.” Internet atheists do not want to acknowledge that the “intellectuals” are defending the same beliefs as people... Read more

My Big Fat Greek Morals Go to the Movies: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

Last updated on: March 28, 2016 at 10:00 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

This is not a movie where spoilers are possible because this is a pleasant little film that dispenses with plot in favor of characters. Dickens sometimes did it, so it can work, and mostly it does here if you anticipate made for television and not Dickens. If there are males in the target market for this movie, I must be that person. I am big, fat, and Greek (Orthodox). My wife is neither big nor fat, but she is Greek... Read more

Whatever You Are Doing: Love Is Available

Last updated on: March 25, 2016 at 10:39 pm By John Mark N. Reynolds

We say we are not judgmental, but we are. Have the wrong views on a political candidate and somebody on social media will not only judge you, they will threaten you. Try being a conservative in philosophy or a liberal in Bible College. We are very judgmental and the worst thing is our judgments are based on little more than our personal preference. I love the Green Bay Packers, but I don’t actually judge Bears’ fans as wicked . . .... Read more