Author: kevingdrendel

I am sixtiesh, an English Literature major in college and an attorney by profession. Faith informs my life, and this blog is about my faith journey.

Stereotyping and the Church

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DIverse People Holding Text Church

One thing that is a constant theme for me, something that is always just beneath the surface of my thinking, one that is continually rising to the top, is the truth that people are not stereotypes.

I am probably as guilty as anyone of stereotyping. Sometimes stereotyping is useful, but we must never forget that people are not stereotypes. Stereotyping people into groups, and stereotyping groups themselves, can be an impediment to truth and an impediment to real dialogue, effective communication and understanding. Continue reading “Stereotyping and the Church” →

Jesus Is

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Jesus st sunset

I have heard it said that Jesus never actually called Himself God. Even if the Gospels recorded those exact words in Jesus’s mouth, I believe many would find ways of discounting what He said. It was no different in Jesus’s day.

Jesus did not say, “I am God” in those exact words, but what he did say could not have been misunderstood by his audience. Jesus made many statements, but one in particular strikes me as the most significant. Before I get to that one statement, a little background is helpful. Continue reading “Jesus Is” →

The Talents You Do Not Have

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matt.14:29

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Niño asombrado mirando a la derecha

God will not reward you based on the talent you have or the talent you do not have, but He will reward you based upon what you did with what He gave you. I am not talking about works. We are saved by grace, not by anything that we have done.

I am talking about stewardship. Continue reading “The Talents You Do Not Have” →

Israel, the Promised Land

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Panorama of Jerusalem, Israel

Israel is the only nation in the world that is living under the same name, speaking the same language, observing the same religion and located in the same place that they were 4000 years ago.

After a lapse of nearly 2000 years during which the Israeli people were scattered and often persecuted in the various places to which they were dispersed, the UN declared the reestablishment of the nation of Israel on May 5, 1948. The nation of Israel was ousted from their native land in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, 1878 years earlier. That UN decree brought 3.6 million Jews back to the historic land of Jews from over 90 nations in 1948, an unprecedented event.

This history is as remarkable as it is unprecedented.  Continue reading “Israel, the Promised Land” →

Whatever We Fix Our Eyes On We Reflect

I have found myself recently caught up in the torrent, reacting and re-reacting to the various comments, news clips and videos, like waves of offensives and sieges…

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Flagstaff Mountain Flowers Philippians 4 8 by Chris Fraley jpeg

The world seems to be coming unglued! Militant, radical Muslims in Iraq are killing Christians, minority religious groups and even other Muslims. Hamas bombards Israel, and Israel responds with shelling that is killing women and children. At home, police decked out in military gear in a Missouri town are confronting an angry mob looting in the street and threatening to kill policemen.

Daily posts on Facebook and other social media demonize Barack Obama and “liberal Democrats”, or greedy corporations and capitalists, or Israelis or Hamas. The air is filled with ranting on both sides and all sides decrying every conceivable evil in the world. The cacophony seems to be reaching new heights. The many forms of social media make ranting as easy as shouting out the window to a world that is right within earshot.

I have found myself caught up in the torrent, reacting and re-reacting to the various comments, news clips and videos, like waves of offensives and sieges, until I began to realize something was happening to me…. Continue reading “Whatever We Fix Our Eyes On We Reflect” →