Blogs

"Put away the dishes, please.""Aww, but Mom, why can't my sister do it? I did the dishes yesterday!"If you're a parent and have children old enough to talk, you've likely heard this complaint. And it's downright irritating. Why can't your children see that the whole house will run smoother if everyone just works together? There's plenty of work to go around, and a little help goes a long way.

Last week, Psychology Today published an opinion piece, trying to disguise it as science, showing that atheism will replace religion. So, given that this would threaten my own job security, I thought I'd better check it out.

In 1984, when we still had Saturday morning cartoons and couldn't sleep in and just record the shows we wanted to see, while sitting in my jammies and munching on cold cereal, I sat through public service announcements that could only be entertaining to a child still groggy from a sleepover, anxious for the Smurfs to get out of the bind they were in before the show went to commercial.

What are your plans for summer? Camping? Travel? Staying home and cleaning? Some big projects?

While summer is a time for recreation, remember that you've already been recreated through your Baptism. Each day is an exciting new day of fresh starts, because you start each day as a forgiven child of God.

Something looks a bit different around here! After several months of great feedback and suggestions, we've given Shepherd of the Ridge Online a significant overhaul. Most noticeably, we've given it a new look and changed the front page to hopefully make it more visitor-friendly. Also, Facebook users can now link their Facebook profiles to their Shepherd of the Ridge accounts, so if you're logged into Facebook, you'll automatically get logged into this site!

Today is the National Day of Prayer, regardless of the controversy wherein a judge ruled the day unconstitutional. If you're upset about that ruling, you can write a letter to an elected official. Your letter may or may not get read.

Last night during Confirmation Class, our class was talking about Holy Baptism and sponsors, and I mentioned that I personally pray for my godsons every day. One of the students said, "That's because you're a pastor."
I get that a lot.

A recent article suggested that the Christian church is seeing a decrease in attendance largely due to the ability to connect with people electronically. In other words, instead of going to church for a weekly dose of social interaction, people can just hop on Facebook, send a text to a friend, or connect in some other way.

Glenn Beck told his listeners to check their church websites for the words, "Social Justice," and if they find them, to run away. Well, for the first time, they now appear on our site, as of this post, the words now appear here, so you have a choice. You can run away, or you can think for yourself.

For some reason, people often think of faith and reason being contradictory, that somehow, when you become a Christian, you must check your brain at the door. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our reason is a gift from God, and He calls us to use that reason to His glory.