“[Psycologist Baruch] Fischoff calls this phenomenon ‘creeping determinism’ — the sense that grows on us, in retrospect, that what has happened was actually inevitable — and the chief effect of creeping determinism, he points out, is that it turns unexpected events into expected events.” Malcolm Gladwell, What the Dog Saw The idea of creeping determinism explains the expression “hindsight is 20/20.” When we look back on events, it always seems so obvious that things would turn out the way they…

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16a Some of you may know that I had a very interesting job in high school. I sold cologne at the mall. Yes, I was that guy that sprayed cards and handed them to you as you walked by….

Here are some of my favorite ideas from chapter 2 of Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy. “But, to be quite frank, grace is cheap from the point of view of those who need it.” “Helmut Thielicke points out that we often wonder if the celebrities who advertise foods and beverages actually consume what they are selling. He goes on to say that this is the very question most pressing for those of us who speak for Christ. Surely something has gone…

Recently I was given a copy of the Red Letters Project to review on my blog. I’ll admit, I was a bit perplexed by the idea of it. It is all of Jesus’ words in the book of Matthew put to music. They describe it this way: “an ambitious and eclectic 3-disc performance based on the ‘red letter’ words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. Drawn word-for-word from the New Living Translation, it’s a real listening experience, featuring 40…

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 What incredibly profound words, especially when all around us are realizations of how thirsty we truly are. Here is an incredible picture that I came across from a collection called “Absence of Water” by Gigi Cifali….