Jason's Blog

George Will, " A Poverty of Thought ," Washington Post, September 13, 2005. Three not-at-all recondite rules for avoiding poverty: (1) Graduate from high school, (2) don't have a baby until you are married, (3) don't marry while you are a teenager. Among people who obey those rules, poverty is minimal.

It seems like people think you're cool if you are on a journey to find God, but they don't think you're cool if you actually find him.

My friend and I were at a restaurant last week and we asked our waiter what question he would ask God if he had the chance. He said he'd need to think about it. Five minutes later he came back and said, "I think I'd ask God why there are so many denominations and churches. Can't we all just get along?" Interesting question. Did you know in the US alone we have over 2000 different protestant denominations? Diversity in the church can be a great thing because there are different styles of worship to fit the differing tastes and preferences of Christians. Diversity yes, disunity no. A quote often attributed to Augustine sums it up nicely - "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity."

What would happen if you got run over by a logging truck? Paul Washer put it this way... "You can’t have an encounter with a logging truck and not be changed... its impossible to have an encounter with a thing as big as a logging truck and not be changed! Then why are you telling me that so many people have had an encounter with God and they’ve never changed. Has God grown smaller than a logging truck?"

John Newton said that when we get to heaven, there will be three wonders: 1. Who is there 2. Who is not there, and 3. The fact that I’m there!

Federal and State excise taxes on fuel account for an average cost of approximately 62 cents per gallon. That's a combined tax of about 20% per gallon of gas. The average profit per gallon of gas for oil companies: 10 cents according to the EIA. Thomas Sowell put it this way: The government collects far more in taxes on every gallon of gasoline than the oil companies collect in profits. If oil company profits are "obscene," as some politicians claim, are the government's taxes PG-13?

So I've been wondering lately what we're going to do in heaven...and who came up with this idea of harps and halos and hymns? John Eldredge in his book “The Journey of Desire” states “… nearly every Christian I have spoken with has some idea that eternity is an unending church service… we have settled on an image of the never-ending sing-along in the sky, one great hymn after another, forever and ever, amen. And our heart sinks, Forever and ever? That’s it? That’s the good news? And then we sigh and feel guilty that we are not more ‘spiritual.’ We lose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can.” [John Eldredge. “The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We’ve Only Dreamed Of.” ( Nashville : Nelson, 2000) p. 111]