UBC Wed For Life

                                                 Almost everyone has heard the song or phrase “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” As much as it might sound like a mantra, it’s doubtful anyone really takes it to heart. In fact, many people probably think the phrase is a bit cheesy. In fact, in one of Public Enemy’s songs, regarding the phrase, Chuck D famously said “...if I say it, you can slap me right here.” I’m sure he’s not the only one that feels that way. It’s difficult to have such a seemingly flippant attitude in today’s world, such as it is. A recent blog entry ( The Violence of Man ) covered how violent the world is. It’s hard not to worry with that problem looming over your shoulder. The same goes for the threats that disease, economic instability, natural disasters, and a whole host of other concerns pose. The idea that one can just brush all those things ...

                                This year UBC will be celebrating Holyween. It’s probably obvious, but Holyween is supposed to be a more Christian friendly version of Halloween.  The name Halloween is a contracted version of the day’s original name All Hallow’s Eve . It started out simply as the day before a past Christian holiday named All Hallow’s Day (also known as Hallowmas). Interestingly enough, the word hallow means to honor as holy, so essentially, the titles Halloween and Holyween mean nearly the same thing.  So, what’s the purpose of even using the new name? Well, regardless of what the name Halloween actually means, the holiday's complicated history has taken it far from its holy beginnings. At best, it has become a commercially supported holiday meant to give kids a little fun but mostly sell a lot of candy and costumes. At worst, it’s become a day to celebrate darkness, evil, and...

                    Today’s world is a violent one. There’s no question about that. Everyone has heard about the war going on in the Ukraine right now. War in itself is bad enough, but the reports of the murder, torture, and rapes of civilian men, women, and even children make the events unfolding in the Ukraine right now seem even more horrific. Many in America might believe that with our recent departures from Iraq and Afghanistan that the U.S. has moved away from war. Those people might be surprised to know that the U.S. is still actively participating in several other wars in places like Yemen and Somalia. Whether the events are reported on the news every day or not, global scale violence has been a constant in the world for decades. One need not know anything about the various wars in the world to understand how violent the world is. Even on national and local levels, we see plenty of examples of the violence. You can’t tur...

God’s and Jesus’ names are invoked a lot in today’s world. Unfortunately, not always for the right reasons. Recently, Representative Lauren Boebert made the comment that “Jesus didn’t have enough AR-15s to keep his government from killing him” in an attempt to defend the second amendment. Someone should tell Rep. Boebert that the Son of God wouldn’t have needed guns to stop his crucifixion. While it may be easy to laugh off the absurdity of Boebert’s comment, her flub is merely a symptom of a larger disease. It’s commonplace for politicians to quote scripture out of context to serve their own purposes, but it’s not limited to politicians. We often see celebrities turn to the Bible in an effort to try and pull away a line that might help them absolve themselves of some wrongdoing. Even among everyday ordinary citizens, it is an all too normal occurrence to hear someone try to use the Bible to attack, discriminate against, or tear down others. The reality is that the world has created a ...

If you’ve gone to church long enough, you have undoubtedly heard someone say that we (Christians) are set apart. What does that actually mean? If you go by the context most often expressed in sermons and statements in church, you’d probably come away with the understanding that the speakers believe Christians are special. In their eyes, Jesus chose us and we agreed to follow him, so that raises us above the rest of the world. Though you might not hear it explicitly stated, it would not be unusual to hear that statement and come away from the encounter thinking that the speaker is saying that Christians are better people. Certainly, nonbelievers pick up on the sentiment and perceive it that way in many cases given that a common criticism of believers by nonbelievers is that “They think they’re better than everybody else.” Such an accusation is definitely not true for all Christians, but it's probably not unusual for believers to feel a sense of pride in the idea that God chose ...

                               There are some stories in the Bible that stand out beyond others and are known by virtually every believer and even many nonbelievers. The stories of Noah and the flood, Moses and the exodus, and David and Goliath are premiere examples. The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is probably one of those stories too. Because of that story, most Christians know about Daniel, but his story goes deeper than just that one event. Daniel’s experience was very similar to another well-known character, Joseph (See Bible Character Spotlight:  Joseph). Like Joseph, Daniel was blessed by God with the ability to interpret dreams, and also like Joseph, Daniel was able to use that gift to raise his status in the service of the head of a great nation. In Joseph’s case, his service was to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Daniel, on the other hand, started out under Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon...

                   This weekend we have an interesting confluence of events. On one hand, Sunday is Mother’s Day, the day set aside to celebrate and honor all the mothers in the nation. On the other hand, we’re right in the middle of the fallout coming from a controversial Supreme Court decision that puts women’s abortion rights in jeopardy in many places across the nation. As with most of the issues that have arisen in today’s world, this one is messy. So-called pro-choice advocates believe that a woman should have full control over her own body to include ending a developing life inside that body if that is her choice. So-called pro-life advocates believe that fetuses are human life and that we should err on the side of protecting that life over the convenience of the woman carrying it. Opinions on this issue aren’t completely binary. Many people’s stances on this issue don’t exactly fall completely on one side or the other. For...