Month: November 2013
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the rest of the story
The editorial cartoon in today’s Grand Rapids Press pokes fun at Walmart for asking people to donate so its workers can have a happy Thanksgiving. This story made national news last week, proving that none of the newscasts do much original reporting anymore. When I mentioned the story to my parents, they told me the…
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what does the fox say?
If you are interested enough in this title to have clicked on its link, then you probably deserve to read this. Cow goes moo, sheep goes baaa, but what does the fox say? The fox says whatever they do, just with different signs. What something says is what it communicates, not how it communicates it.…
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the command to believe
Most chapters in Despite Doubt cite Martin Luther, because the man who endured so much Anfechtung has much to teach us about faith and doubt. I found his observation on the first of the Ten Commandments particularly helpful, and I cite it here to encourage you. Luther observed that the first commandment is “the commandment…
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christmas moochers
The other week one of my students who leads worship mentioned that December is a frantic month for everyone involved in his area. This led us to wonder why every church must put so much effort into its Christmas programs. I understand why we do children’s musicals—because parents and grandparents insist on it—but why must…
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how to know God exists
I could point to evidence from nature. Why is there something rather than nothing? And why is this something beautifully arranged, as if it was designed? We live on the razor’s edge in a universe that is finely tuned for life. If the Earth orbited much closer to the sun we would burn up; if…
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what did you think we were going to say?
Yesterday I heard a couple of stories in the media about the Christian owned businesses and schools that are suing the government over our right not to fund abortions. The arguments against the lawsuit seemed to be that corporations aren’t people so they don’t have the freedom of religion and the slippery slope argument of…
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thoughts from the weekend
What are the odds that the Michigan-Ohio State game will start with a running clock? Is it possible that Michigan is tanking on purpose to prevent the Buckeyes from playing a ranked opponent? Well played, Michigan, well played. Watching David Axelrod explain why President Obama wasn’t lying when he said everyone could keep their health…
Mike Wittmer 