In preparation for Christmas, I wrote a letter to the editor to a local newspaper. I was desiring local discussion. I got it. While Christmas celebration has ceased for most of us, today (Saturday January 7th) is Christmas for Russian orthodox churches in 2017. Whichever the date you celebrate, the arguments are relevant and timeless. […]
One Amazing Idea Every Christian Should do for Christmas (Plus 8 Secret Tools Creative People Use to Be Creative!)
How can one be a follower of Christ without a desire to tell others the Gospel? I don’t really know. However, you know how it is, many people don’t like to hear the Gospel. But one time in the year most are not only okay with hearing the Gospel, but expect it! Check out your […]
Six Concerning “Christian” Ideas, And What The Bible Says About Them
A recent conversation got me concerned. The ideas were not new to me, but what was interesting was the volley of ideas that kept coming, kept coming without biblical justification. A Christian of a number of years, explained it is not good when Christians have “head knowledge”. In other-words, we should not study the Bible […]
An Urologist’s Principle You Can Use in Communicating Christ
While I was assisting in an urology procedure, the type where the patient wants to be knocked out and hopes he is unknown by staff, the doctor explained his patient communication method. His “technique” was his vocabulary, the type that would make great grandma Elsa blush in embarrassment. Very easy to understand terms – crude. […]
Christian Narcissism
….and how to fix it “No,” I said after being asked if I had any plans for summer vacation. “Why not?” was his response. “To be clear, I’m not against vacations, I go on vacation every once in a while. However, it seems to me many are always planning and executing their world travels. There’s […]
Silly People or Silly Idea?
One of the greatest mistakes we make is to name names indiscriminately in discussion when ideas would work just as well. In fact, it is very important in communication. If you noticed I usually try to have good arguments without pointing fingers or naming names. Now this is not always possible. Where there is public […]
OK, I Admit, I’m Biased
One issue that gets me chuckling is the “bias argument”. It goes something like this, some scream “bias” on a source you present, which gives them liberty to ignore what you are saying. Now there may be a case made for questioning bias at times, but refraining from commenting on the argument seems to be […]
The Brainwashing
Are you being brainwashed? In a post by Stella Morabito (see source below, it is worth the read), she tells the story of Patricia Hearst, who within two months was brainwashed into a totally different person. There were a number of things that she went through but here are some of the techniques her kidnappers […]
Why Respect?
I already talked about one very important question “what do you mean by that?” This question is powerful because it can clear up misunderstandings fast, decreasing conflict. Danger Many don’t know what they mean when they make claims, they just repeat the talking points. This means that this question, along with others, are powerful but […]
What do you mean by that?
In a previous post, I talked about fifteen things that I am trying to focus on more. The last five were under the title of “culture of inquiry”. I am trying to ask more questions for a number of reasons. Also, I talked about questions in my post on how to talk to those who […]