christianity

Chris Knight's avatar

I am somewhat in a state of flux at the moment.  See, I’ve been living in the Spartanburg, South Carolina area for going on eight years now.  But I don’t know if it can truly be called that I’ve “set down roots” here.  This is one of the fastest-growing areas in the entire country, there are people coming to live here in mega droves (the constant residential developing is something that’s irking longtime members of the community) but even so, there’s not been a peace on my heart about staying here.  If I can swing it I’d love to relocate to the Greenville area.  I have a lot of friends and family there, it would be nice to be closer to them.

One of the things that has suffered because of that “lack of peace” is my spiritual life.  I’ve been here for the better part of a decade and
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A few days ago I posted about “Pride Month” and how disgusted a lot of us have become with having sexual deviancy shoved into our faces during the month of June.  That post came following another in which I addressed the matter of someone accusing me of “bigotry” because of my beliefs about homosexuality.

The entire situation can be summarized by this statement I heard a number of times from the opposition: “We will not tolerate intolerance!”

I’ve been familiar with Karl Popper’s “paradox of intolerance” for quite awhile now, going back to a philosophy class that I took in college at Elon.  The gist of it is that a society must be intolerant of intolerance, or else there is no tolerance at all.  To a point, I can agree with that.

To a point, mind you.

But the reality has been for a very long time, that the “tolerant” ...

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This is a story that for whatever reason, I haven’t shared on this blog before.  Maybe it’s because it’s so long and many people might not have the time to read it all?  But it’s a good story, I think.  One that might have many marveling at the serendipitous nature of the universe.  Personally, I believe this is a “God thing”.  The chances of this happening as they did cannot be calculated.  And yet the elements fell precisely into place, more beautifully than anything that a person could probably come up with on their own.

I shared this story earlier a few days ago on a friend’s Facebook post, which was about her daughter happening to run into a former next-door neighbor at the Vatican.   This story is right up there with that.  So here it is.  Enjoy!

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It was the summer of 1993.  July 5th to be ...

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I’m reading a number of stories regarding churches turning their nativity scenes into political statements about immigration agents enforcing the laws.  Namely, these churches are replacing Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus with signs saying “ICE was here”.  At least one church went all the way and has ICE agents surrounding the crèche with zip ties and weapons drawn.

Photo credit: Matthew McDonald

I would not want to visit these churches, because they are demonstrating that they have no grasp of scripture at all.

Here’s the truth of the matter: Jesus and his parents were never refugees or immigrants.  Joseph took his wife to Bethlehem because that was their hometown, and they had to take part in a census that had been ordered by Caesar.  They may not have been fully citizens of Rome (few in Roman territory were) but they were certainly 100% legal residents of the empire. ...

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My book Keeping the Tryst has been out for a little over a month and a half now.  It’s been doing pretty well sales-wise.  Okay it’s NOT a bestseller by any stretch.  But enough people have been buying and reading it to make me pretty happy so far.  Maybe there will come to be some word of mouth and knowledge about it will spread around.
People are reading it.  And their comments have been rather kind.  One of my friends said that it’s a real page-turner that he’s barely been able to put down.  A number of people have praised its readability, saying that it doesn’t come across as a 500-some page volume.  I’ve also gotten good word about the design: it’s page color, the font size… so it’s something comfortable on the eyes.  Considering that I had to design everything about this book, hearing those things makes me smile.
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The church I visited today had a baptismal ceremony.

And as I’ve thought for a very long time now about the sacrament and is often the case, it was WAY too brief.

It was three people being baptised (I prefer that word with a lovely “s” rather than a jagged “z”) and the entire ceremony lasted less than a minute and a half.

Were I a stranger to seeing such things… and there are MANY for whom the act of baptism WOULD be an alien spectacle… I would be absolutely bewildered at the brevity of so mystifying a ritual.  Clearly, some context is in order.  WHY would one subject himself or herself to being immersed in a vessel of water, before a cloud of witnesses?

I think we are depriving ourselves as the body of Christ when we reduce baptism to so few fleeting moments.

A baptism should be much ...

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Every so often Matthew 7:7 comes to mind.  The verse reads (from the New International Version):

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
 
 It comes to the fore of my thoughts when I think about my own salvation journey.  How it progressed from being a person very angry and bitter toward God, to realizing that He could not have been responsible for what happened to me, to appreciating His beautiful design of the universe, to believing that I could not possibly be reconciled with Him… on until I finally allowed him into my life as my Lord and Savior.
 
(Some people still don’t think of my life in terms like that. I suppose they will always think of me as an “atheist” even though I never truly did not believe in God.  They
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Obviously the notion entered my mind that maybe this could be an installment of the Being Bipolar series (which there may be much more material for coming soon).  But Being Bipolar is more about the disease itself, and is intended to be a resource for those looking for insight and information from someone who lives with that condition.

What I’m sharing now, on the other hand, has less to do with that aspect of my life than it does with others.  Although mental illness is certainly the precipitant.

It was twenty-four years ago this month that the symptoms of manic depression, or bipolar disorder, first began to manifest themselves in me.  At first it was wildly intoxicating, all the boundless energy and creativity that came seemingly out of nowhere.  I was still looking for a job post-college and failing in that but other opportunities were coming to the fore (like ...

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I wish that I could tell you, faithful readers (all two of you) that my spiritual life is one that has been a beautiful one.  A life that has somehow escaped all trouble and heartbreak.  This month is the twenty-seventh anniversary of my first coming to having faith in Christ.  And you would think that all of that time would have resulted in… well, something beyond losing that faith and having to go through agony over and over again.

Yeah, you might think that.  And you would be horribly wrong.

I well remember the first ten days or so after my salvation.  The joy that I felt, at having confronted something that had been holding me back and beating that (or so I thought at the time).  And then it was like I plunged headlong into darkness that I still have a hard time believing is really there, waiting to ...

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Very good friend Matt Smith (no not the Doctor Who actor!) and I go back a few years, all the way to our time together at that very strange television station in Reidsville, North Carolina.  I learned a lot about video and broadcasting from Matt, and I continue to learn much from him since his becoming active with the online realm, sharing his talents and his calling as a minister.

For the past two or three years Matt has been maintaining a weekly series of “Sunday school” lessons.  Every Saturday he posts a new one on YouTube.  I for one have been benefiting from Matt’s devotionals and I think that others might will also.  Click on over to Matt’s YouTube channel and prepare to be edified, enlightened, and maybe even a little entertained.

Thank you for all that you do my brother!...

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