The Cross Section - RMB Blog

I originally wrote this for my church's blog about 3 years ago. I was reading through some old things of mine and came across it. It really spoke to me. With all the troubles of 2020 I admit I get emotionally drawn into the anxiety. The word "passion" is one of many Latin words that we have adopted in English. It's primary meaning is suffering, but most commonly we use it today to mean deep desire or emotion, usually in a positive sense. We should remember its original meaning because ultimately following your passions (emotional desires) can lead to great passion (suffering). Follow your passion! It is a common message you hear in 21st century US of A. Get excited and run after your dreams! It is exciting even to type that out. Find the thing you are good at today, the thing you really enjoy doing and make your life about that. I could never tell someone not to do that, but what if the thing I enjoy isn’t the thing I am good at? What if the thing I am...

A cross section image is very helpful when trying to understand the interaction of different types of materials.  You can see how layers stack up.  Do they adhere consistently or are there unwanted air voids?  Do the different components mix together?  Are they chemically different enough to separate themselves into different regions?  Are there obvious weak spots?  All of these questions are important when developing different material compounds or using industrial manufacturing processes.  Looking at the cross section let's you know how everything works together. This blog isn't about all that though.  Looking at a physical cross section is a metaphor for what I would like to do, to look at events and issues analyzing them by seeing what the Bible, theology, philosophy, logic, science, history, and economics can teach us.  To truly understand an issue we must understand something about all those subjects and how they work t...

The proper relationship of the Church to the State has been discussed for centuries. Reading through history you can see the actual relationship has evolved over time. When the Church first started, the Roman State was their adversary with chronic and acute persecutions. From the time Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire through the Reformation, the relationship could roughly be characterized as a series of alliances. By the time the United States of America was founded, the relationship was no longer an alliance. In theory, churches were free to conduct their business without disturbance by the State, but the State no longer supported a particular religion or denomination. The purpose of this situation was to promote peace between the increasing number of different groups within Christianity and between each of them and the State. However, through the 20th Century to today, the government and culture has become more and more secular. The safeg...