When we gave up on the 4th commandment, we opened the door to a great, exponential, downward slide... because we gave up on something that was so clearly, manifestly mandated by God. - Alistair Begg (1952-present)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Gen. 1:1

I decided to put this hemorrhage of my mind in the Truth category because the "story" of creation is often debated. But knowing the Bible is true: Is Genesis 1 a parable or is it literal?

Define: Conviction - a fixed or firm belief
Synonyms: confidence, creed, doctrine, dogma, eye, faith, feeling, judgment call, mind, opinion, persuasion, principle, reliance, sentiment, slant, tenet, view

I love doctrine - principles and positions. Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish essayist and historian of the Victorian era, said: "Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct." And I must agree. If I do not change my behavior because of a belief what difference does the opinion really make? So I have come to learn that gathering knowledge does nothing for me unless I place that knowledge into proper action: wisdom.

But there is more hope for a fool than for a man wise in his own eyes! (Prov. 26:12) And this is why I won't stand by my convictions.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel – not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. - Gal. 1:6, 7

Friend, if you had asked me several months ago what "a different gospel" looks like, I might have mentioned Mormonism, Catholicism, or something like that. But today, I must speak out against a distortion that has personally impacted my family: the very false gospel Paul was writing about.

My life has moved beyond the turmoil of getting anathematized by men I considered friends. We've made some new friends and planted roots in a church body. I've made some spiritual strides lately: The future is unknown, and I've come to wait for it expectantly. But I'm missing something. I have cried out to my God for some semblance of closure. Proper closure accounts for all the clues and mysteries, leaves no stray ends, makes themes clear, and gives readers a sense that order is again in sight (define:closure).

Whether you like or not... whether you know it or not... it's true. My wife is better than yours.

You see my wife was up at 0615 preparing the whole family for the day. She lovingly cared for my baby girl who could barely breathe. She dolled herself up to make me notice her. (And trust me, I definitely noticed her.) She systematically woke, prepped, and fed all of the children.

But honestly, the work she did early this morning was only the finishing touch.

I lost my temper with you again. "I'm sorry" just doesn't seem to cut it.

Definition: belief
Synonyms: assurance, certainty, certitude, confidence, conviction, credence, credit, dependence, entrustment, expectation, faith, gospel truth, hope, positiveness, reliance, stock, store, sureness
Antonyms: disbelief, distrust, mistrust

As I look around, I cannot say that the world around me even pretends to trust God. But more importantly, I don't think I really do either.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much truth God has given me. He's "told" me so many practical, life changing facts of the universe.

xkcd (A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language.) made fun of the Drake Equation. But honestly, the truth the author stated is far more inclusive than just the theories of Frank Drake. So I fixed it...