As hard as it may be to believe, Jesus was not a Christian. He was God, and people have been doing great things, as well as making terrible mistakes trying to be “Christ-like” ever since. I will be the first to admit, even as a Christian, that religion can be terrible. People do hurtful things to others in the name of religion. Pastors get power hungry and do wrong under the pretense that God has given them that authority. Violence is also committed in the name of God — unspeakable acts that make no sense to the rational mind. There is a difference between God and religion, though. They are …
Whenever a new love enter our lives, we tend to view everything about that person through a rose colored lens. In our eyes, they can do no wrong and seem to be nothing short of perfect. Of course, we all know in the back of our minds that no one is truly without flaw, but we just can’t seem to find anything about them to complain about. We’ve fallen in love and everything about being with that person just seems so easy. We are overwhelmed with the feeling of love. At some point during the relationship, though, a switch flips and we begin to see that person in a new light. Through this …
Picture your life as a straight line. A path, if you will. Not only does this path represent life itself, but also God’s perfect will for that life. Each of us is given a path with a definite beginning and ending, but as we get older, we are presented with opportunities to diverge from this path and make our own way. These “crooked” paths may not necessarily be bad, even though they often times are, but they will never be as good as what God originally intended. Make no mistake, though, any path we take will lead to that same definitive ending. As a Christian, I have spent almost all of my …
Imagine this scenario. You’re going on a family vacation. You pack your car full of luggage, food and other things you’ll need for the long trip ahead. You grab your map -- or GPS if you are tech savvy -- and load up the kids in the back, making sure they are strapped in securely by their seat belts. Heading west from Atlanta you start the drive and a smile crosses your face as you think about the good times waiting ahead of you. At some point, in a random spot in Alabama, one of your kids utters the infamous line, “Are we there yet?” And that’s when it hits you. You slam on the breaks and …
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an advocate for peace. About a year before his assassination, the famous civil rights activist gave one of his most famous speeches entitled “A Time to Break Silence,” which outlined reasons the United States should withdraw from the Vietnam War. Ultimately, he longed to see a world at peace — peace within our borders and beyond. While peace between individuals, and certainly nations, is imperative to life as we know it, many people forget about the importance of finding peace within ourselves. For some, though, acquiring a peace with the life that we’ve …
There have been many times I can remember jumping off my couch to cheer on my favorite football team while watching a big game. With fists pumping, I would scream out the word “touchdown!” at the top of my lungs. In that moment, I didn’t care who heard me. I was completely into the game and so was everyone else in the room. Something about the intensity of this full-contact sport almost demands that kind of enthusiasm, doesn’t it? With a lot of important games coming up soon, it got me thinking — should Christians have that same kind of enthusiasm for God? Is that even a fair comparison? I’m …
The new year is upon us, whether we are ready for it or not. After all the New Year’s Eve celebrations end, each of us will hit our alarm clocks the next morning with 365 days ahead to pursue whatever it is we choose. The questions are, though; what will we choose and how hard will we choose to pursue it? These questions lead me to yet another question — what is the balance between trying to make things happen in our own power and relying on God’s? I’ve often heard my Christian friends and mentors say that everything good happens in God’s own timing but how patient should we be when we are …
Like the famous song from Andy Williams says about the holiday season, “It's the most wonderful time of the year.” No doubt, Christmas time is special — what many consider to truly be the most wonderful time of each year. It is easy to see why: presents; time with family; elaborate Christmas light displays; great food. It is also the lack of these things, however, that people all over find it to be the most depressing time of the year. Christmas has a way of taking the good in our lives and amplifying it. For those in stable relationships, even new ones, the bond with the other person can …
I don’t really remember the moment that it happened, but I’m sure it was one of several different scenarios. Maybe I was at the mall, realizing how much fun I was having picking out personalized Christmas gifts for the people that meant the most to me. Most likely, though, it was when I saw the face of one of those people open the gift I bought for them. Not only was it the smile of that person, but the look of recognition in their eyes when they realized that I had remembered something significant about who they are represented in the gift I had selected. I learned in that moment and others …
As Christians, we all know how important love and faith are to the teachings of Jesus and in the Holy Bible as a whole. “Faith” is mentioned 365 times in the King James version (KJV) of the Bible — one for each day of the year — while the word “love” is mentioned 280 times in the KJV. Mentioned only slightly less in the Bible than “love,” however, is “wisdom,” which is used 222 times in the KJV. There is no denying how much emphasis God chose to put on wisdom in His Word. There is also no denying how much this important virtue seems to be lacking in today’s society. Wisdom, it seems, is a …
With Smyrna-Vinings Patch recently celebrating its one-year birthday and the fact that 2012 is rapidly approaching, new beginnings have been on my mind a lot this week. We all long for fresh starts from our past and, often times, we look at each birthday or beginning of the New Year on Jan. 1 as the perfect time to turn over a new leaf. But what if we didn’t wait for the calendar to cue us for our new beginnings? What if we truly began looking at each new day as a chance for a fresh start? My birthday is at the end of December and, as I get older, each one comes to represent less of a …
Having grown up in the church, I have noticed certain issues over the years that divide Christians both young and old. One of these topics is whether or not it is appropriate for a Christian to consume alcohol. This debate has continued, it seems, because there is really no clear-cut answer in the Bible. Or is there? I recently had a conversation with two of my most respected Christian friends and was amazed at how different each of their views on alcohol were. I decided I wanted to try to get to the bottom of this debate once and for all. My friends and I were hanging out at my apartment, …
We live in an imperfect world. So imperfect, in fact, that war, disease and crumbling economies make headlines these days as much as commonplace murders and robberies do. Yet, somewhere in our feeble minds, some of us, including myself, expect everything in our own little worlds to go perfectly. When they don’t, we are left frustrated and confused. The good news is, imperfect times are the best time to draw closer to a perfect God. I am writing this column as much for me as I am anyone else. You see, even though I know we live in an imperfect world, I still long for perfection in my daily …
I remember it like it was just yesterday because, well, it was. My day had been going great. It had been busy, for sure, but in a good way. I had spent time with my parents, had a good day at work and, after that, was on my way to do a show with one of the artists I play for in Jacksonville, Ala. I had my Americano from Starbucks to keep me awake on the two hour drive there and had just eaten a delicious dinner, as well. Everything was going great and I knew that the show was going to be a lot of fun to boot. Then, I got a traffic citation. Well, two actually. I was furious for a moment, but…
Stop for a moment and pay attention to all that is happening around you. If you are reading this right now, you are probably sitting at your computer at home with the television on in the background. Maybe you are checking it out on your smartphone while waiting to pick up a to-go order at a local restaurant. There may not seem to be much going on around you at the moment, but what if you knew that God was trying to communicate with you? How much more closely would you pay attention? The truth is, God does want to speak to you and He can do so in a grand fashion or in a quiet moment. The …
Vinings Church, a non-denominational church recently planted in the area by Douglasville’s Crossroads Church, has made an impactful contribution to our community since Patch profiled it last December. Whether it’s gathering warm coats for those in need, collecting school supplies for kids, or cleaning up local schools and parks with its serveCobb events, Vinings Church has been serving the community well. And now the church has a home as impassioned head pastor Justin Craig and Vinings Church are holding weekly Sunday morning services at The Galleria at the Waverly Hotel. Check out their …
While there may be people that don’t know the name Steve Jobs, it could be argued that there are very few that don’t know his brand, “Apple." When news of his passing hit the Internet last week I was in shock, even though there had been whispers of his poor health for months prior. When someone has been as successful as Jobs, one tends to think of that person as nearly immortal. What Jobs has left behind, however, will likely live on indefinitely. Jobs accomplishments made me, and likely many others, take an honest look at what our own legacies might be — and how we might go about leaving one…
Construction is everywhere. Despite the slow economy, one can find roads being constructed or repaved, new buildings being erected and landscapes being overhauled. Here in Smyrna, there are a number of these projects on the move. While money is certainly tight these days, construction is made a priority and continues on because people see the importance in keeping things maintained and growing. Without growth and change, things can get stale and unrefined quickly. The same can be true in our lives as well once we stop taking the steps needed to keep growing. It is much easier to be complacent…
When dark times come into our lives, it can be almost impossible to see through to the other side — to a time when things will inevitably get better. Equating the hardest parts of our lives to darkness seems very appropriate. Being caught in the middle of a seemingly hopeless situation can make anyone feel like giving up because we often can’t see a clear path out of it. When we fully understand what Christ can do in our lives, though, it isn’t hard to understand why He chooses to call himself “the light.” While I would never say my life has been a bed of roses, I have had more than my share …
It is easy to feel close to God when finding yourself face to face with some of the most majestic sites in the natural world. Some of the most beautiful and recognizable natural wonders support the idea in many people that see them for the first time, or for the tenth time, that an intelligent creator must be responsible — a thought that resonates both in the mind and spirit. But what happens when all you normally see in your day-to-day life is the grey familiarity of the roads you travel on to work each day? At the risk of sounding like someone who should be wearing bellbottom jeans and a …
