This Easter Sunday, March 31, our church will begin meeting in a new location. We are very thankful to the Pike YMCA for allowing us to meet in their facility for the last three years, but we have outgrown the space they can provide. After more than a year of searching, we have found a wonderful new meeting space in the Kiwanis International headquarters.

We would appreciate prayer that the transition would be smooth, and that we can get all of the necessary work done in the coming weeks.

Our highly-evolved scientists can tell us exactly what the biological or evolutionary "purpose" is for all kinds of human attributes. Why do we have thumbs? Why do we have tongues? Ask them. They know. They believe we are the way we are for a very particular reason. They believe in a design. Granted, the designer is not so much intelligent as adamant, but the design still exists. Evolution demands that we propagate--and successfully. It is absolutely adamant about this. If we didn't, we would die out.

Recently the Wall Street Journal had an article that encouraged people to delay getting a career, getting married, moving out of your parents house. In other words, it was encouraging people to delay growing up and to stay adolescents as long as possible. Why would they encourage this? Because the human brain isn't fully developed until at least 30. Apparently it's a good idea to not make important decisions until your brain is "optimal."

Recently I received an email with the following question:

Should we give to beggars? I've seen a surprising number on street corners in Indy, all with cardboard signs.

On the one hand, I think of: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." - Matthew 5:42

There's also: "For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either." - 2 Thessalonians 3:10

Attributing sinful motives to a man today will quickly bring the response, "We can't know the heart. We must not act as though we can read people's minds." or something of that sort. But it's almost always when somebody is offended that he says this, just like people only say, "Judge not lest ye be judged!" when they are offended. The second quote is trotted out when you confront a man about his sinful actions, but it is the first quote I'm interested in. That one is used when you confront a man about his sinful motives. So let's answer the burning question. Is he right?

"‎Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Here is an excellent article outlining the mounting danger of being a Christian in any Muslim country. Some people are shocked that this "religion of peace" would ever lead people to perform such violent acts of intolerance. Others point out that similar things have been done by those who claim to be Christians in the past. But rarely do you see a news article simply outlining the facts as they currently stand, country to country.

I was listening to a Christian radio station today as I drove. (It's a long story.) Anyway, there was a talk program on. It soon became clear that the topic was raising children, and the author being interviewed was describing how to handle angry outbursts like throwing toys down the stairs, slamming doors, etc. He was explaining the importance of finding out what your child is feeling in order to determine why they behaved in that way. Rather than discipline them for the wrong behavior, find out why they behaved that way and help them to evaluate whether their response was good.

Earlier this month was the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As I drove to church that morning, a man was standing on a bridge over I-465, holding a huge flag. He was still there when I drove back home from church. I saw one church that had filled its lawn with American flags. The rallying cry became, "We will never forget."