Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

      Like I do almost every year, I spent Christmas at my aunt's house. Our family gathering was smaller this year than usual, but it was still just like always in other ways. We had some of the same arguments that we have every Christmas, some of the gifts were loved by the recipients while others missed the mark, we all ate too much of the delicious food, and the kids were the stars of the show. As the day progressed, I did notice one element that is present within my family that is sorely lacking in the world as a whole: acceptance of each other's opinions, particularly regarding the vaccine.     My family runs the entire spectrum when it comes to the vaccine. A few members are fully vaccinated, including their booster shot. Two people are only partially vaccinated because of bad reactions to either the first or second dose. A few of us aren't vaccinated at all for various reasons. Some have medical issues, some don't trust a vaccine created so quickly, and ...

We're living in a world that keeps breaking But if we want to find a way to change it It all comes down to this Love God, love people ~ Danny Gokey, " Love God, Love People " I initially wrote a post based off of this song in August of last year. While much has changed in the 14 months since then, unfortunately, many people are still having trouble loving others the way we are called to. In fact, I feel like some people are less loving now than they were then. As Christians, our priority should always be loving others the way Christ has loved us.  Going back to the roadmap presented in 1 Corinthians 13, here are some of the areas I've noticed still need a bit of work. Love is kind:  The member of our monthly circle group I mentioned in the original post  finally came back to our group in April. Mom and I enjoyed spending time with her and catching up on the last year. That was, of course, until the subject of the shot came up. She asked Mom and me if we had gotten it,...

End of blog post. Well, not really.     Truthfully, I shouldn't have to say more than this, but unfortunately, I do. Increasingly it seems as though some people think the only reason anyone isn't yet vaccinated is because they haven't had the opportunity to be. I've had the opportunity. In fact, I've had many opportunities, but I haven't gotten it, and may never get it.       The reason is quite simple, I am not afraid of Coronavirus. Never have been, and never will be. I take to heart the words of Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The absolute worst thing that the Coronavirus could do to me is kill me, which is unlikely to happen. Even if it did, my future is secure. In Christ, my death secures me a one-way ticket to Heaven, where pain and disease no longer exist. I'm not in any hurry to get there, and I'd rather not get there because of a ...

 "Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark." ~Revelation 13:16-17 It's been over a year since the pandemic started, and things are finally starting to get back to normal. Churches are opening up, high school students got to have proms and graduations, and people are once again planning vacations. However, what caused these changes had nothing to do with finally reaching herd immunity or people stepping out in faith and trusting God more than they feared the virus. These changes are coming about because of a rapidly produced, not yet fully tested vaccine. Now, I'm not against vaccines. I have received all the vaccines given to infants, and faithfully receive my tetanus booster. I think vaccines are a great way to help eradicate deadly diseases, but they have to be developed properly. This one went from necessity to dist...