Stop Being a Nice Guy

March 09, 2018 by Joel Burns in manhood

It is important that men recover the willingness to be confrontational – in love, out of kindness, for the good of the people with whom they live. Bad ideas thrive on people’s willingness to entertain them and they survive and spread because those commissioned to do battle with them allow themselves to be cowed into being “nice."

Of Georgian Shepherds and the Flock of God

March 06, 2018 by Joel Burns in manhood

Man of God, before the philosophies, ideas, priorities, and foolishness of the world can reach those you love, it should have to contend with you, the sheepdog, first. This is the mission the Good Shepherd has entrusted to you and you need to take it seriously.

The Bible Is Not God - Part II

February 27, 2018 by Joel Burns in meditations

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). To try and separate the two makes no sense given the case the Bible itself spends so much time establishing. The Bible is not God, but to take it seriously at all is to believe both that He is the one from whom it directly emanated and that it is an essential part of any Christian’s life. For someone to try and claim that the Bible is great but not entirely necessary is akin to telling people that they need to stay hydrated but shouldn’t worry too much about drinking water. It acknowledges the need but pretends that the mechanism for fulfilling the need is unnecessary.

The Bible Is Not God - Part I

February 22, 2018 by Joel Burns in meditations

The Bible goes to great lengths to speak against the kind of hypocritical and legalistic abuses that are the cause of so much undue suffering. Consequently, Christians who are truly dedicated to the teachings of the Bible will be the stalwart enemies of religious abuse and never its proponents.

On Adventure

February 15, 2018 by Joel Burns in meditations

While so many of us claim to want our lives to be filled with adventure, the word we’re using and the reality of our experiences could hardly be more different. In some ways, for many of us adventure becomes not just a preference but a need within us crying out to be fulfilled. We perceive that a life without it wouldn’t be a life worth living. And while that may or may not actually be the case, the fact remains that what many of us conceive of as adventure is in reality anything but.