The Poison Ivy Tree
The top photograph is a tree in our yard that was infested with poison ivy. The tangled brown mass and most of the branches you see are dead poison ivy after I sprayed several times and went to the doctors’ to treat poison ivy rash eruptions all over my body. The tree was planted with care by people who came long before us. The poison ivy would have sprouted all by itself at the base of the tree soon after. And it was neglected and allowed to grow and infest and take over the tree—so much that half the trunk’s…
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…
