A Daddy's Love Letter To His Daughter

Until I became a father in June of 2011, I never really thought too much about the passing of time. I have lived for thousands of days, and as I am a mere 41 years old as I write this it is reasonable to assume that I will live for many thousand more. Some always stand out as special, such as anniversaries, reunions, birthdays and holidays, but overall life was a long string of days passing as they would, and I never concerned myself too much with counting them.  That all changed when my daughter, Riley Diane Ingram, was born just...

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Why Republicans Talk About Abortion

First of all, yes, there are a significant number of Americans who are concerned about abortion. Mostly they are concerned about other people possibly having an abortion, but there it is. There are people who honestly feel that abortion is murder, no matter whether it happens five minutes after conception or six months into the pregnancy. It's a polarizing issue, one that almost everyone cares about to one degree or another. That's why every time election season rolls around we are subjected to another round of abortion talk even as the economy...

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Christianity Applied Chapter 4: Is Jesus The Only Path To Salvation?

Christianity Applied Chapter 4: Is Jesus Christ the Only Way?One of the toughest questions facing modern religious thinkers today is the question of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.  Keeping in mind that Jesus himself was a Jew, and was not trying to create a church around his own teachings, is it necessary to believe in Jesus as the one and only path to salvation in order to be saved? Admittedly, I struggle with this concept. What, exactly, is salvation? What do I need to be saved from? From the wrath of an angry god, hell bent on punishing...

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Christianity Applied Chapter 3: The Danger Of "McDonald's Ministries"

Chapter Three: The Danger Of "McDonald’s Ministries" I was recently talking to some nice people who live just around the corner, in the flight path of my toddler daughter’s daily neighborhood walk. They were telling me all about a trip they had just gone on with a group from their church. They had all flown to Africa and fed untold numbers of starving children and no doubt saved the world in the process. Their church is one of the new breed of what I like to call “McDonald’s Ministries,” because they have lots of franchises around town...

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Christianity Applied Chapter 2: The Inerrancy Of Scripture

Christianity Applied Chapter 2Inerrancy of Scripture2 Timothy 2:15 Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.                 To begin with, we should be clear about the terms we use.  Scripture is whatever written document that is used by a religion as its foundational guide for worship and living.  It is the prime source for belief, behavior, and understanding of life. ...

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Christianity Applied Chapter 1: The Two Commandments

Christianity Applied Chapter 1: The Two Commandments Luke 10: (25)On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (26)“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”   (27)He answered: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”  (28)“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”     ...

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The Danger Of The Christmas/Easter Christian

I was raised in the Christian church, but not just as a casual believer. My parents were and are deep thinkers on the subject of religion, spending far more time studying the faith outside of the church than they do in those few hours on Sunday morning and perhaps the occasional Wednesday night. Suffice to say, Sunday morning was only one small part of my religious education. The thing is, as I have grown older and continued advanced studies in the history of the Church, the history of the Bible, and the context of both, I find it harder and...

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