A Matter of Heart

By Benjamin H. Liles

          In recent days protests not only have mounted across these American States but worldwide as well. Overall, many people are saying that those in the minority ought to and need to have equal rights as everyone else. To this I add a caveat as well. What about the Native American, the Chinese-American, Filipino-American, among the few who are also marginalized? Some of these folks have fought and died for the freedoms we so richly have and hold dear in the States.

Dare to be Transformed

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I'm back to listening to and/or watching American Gospel: Christ Alone yet again with my wife, Tanya. One of those things I'd rather dare to be is to be transformed by God's Word, the Bible, through His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Paul commends us, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2, New King James). The thing about the gospel message isn't that it's about daring to be a Matthew, a Daniel, an Isaiah, or even a Jeremiah. Each of those books I just mentioned speak on an aspect of the person-hood of Jesus the Messiah.

A Radical Love

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I've been wrestling with this idea from the start. How can man, been born of a woman, claim deity, die on a cross, and then "supposedly" raised from the dead? I know I'm phrasing this from a non-Christian point of view when in fact I am a Christ-follower. The debate has been a hot one for years. The Catholic Church alone has said their position is that -- at the outset of the Council of Trent, "If any one [says], that by faith alone the [godless] is justified...let him be [cursed/damned]." I have more of a problem with a position of a church to claim they speak on behalf of Christ, when almost everyone in this day and age has at least one Bible.