A Tale of 3 Cities, #2a: Jefferson Revisited
I previously wrote about Jefferson, Texas, as a town of people who thought riverboats would always keep them prosperous. They could not see the world changing, and they got left behind. Yet their story deserves a Part Two—and so might yours. When the 150-mile-long log jam, “The Great Raft,” was cleared downstream, the Red River water levels upstream, where Jefferson was, fell too low for riverboats to navigate. Finally they saw the need to adapt to the new development of railroads. But it was too late; they had previously turned down the offer of being a railroad center, and…
Redemption in the Void
My mother passed away on August 1, 2018. In her decrepit state she was ready to go. That alone is a blessing when considering how many die a violent or untimely death. Yet even when death comes as an accepted release, everyone who’s experienced the death of a loved one knows how discomfiting it is when a person’s soul disappears from the face of the earth. For those of us left behind, loved ones continue to die in stages—the funeral and burial or cremation, dealing with their clothes, personal items, and furniture in their room, replaying memories, and finalizing business. We…
A Church’s Kingdom Approach in Response to Gay Marriage
Since Adam and Eve, marriage has been defined, both biblically and socially, as the union of a man and a woman. How does the church respond after a divided Supreme Court decided that homosexuals have a constitutional right to marry? Even Justice Kennedy’s prevailing court opinion on this radical (and perhaps inevitable) shift appeared to be based more on ideas of love than on the Constitution. Indeed, love is the hallmark of a Christian. And Jesus makes clear in the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:36–40 that love is first of all, and primarily, given to God. Secondarily, love is given…
