Christian Life | Blind Man's Fancy

From Ghoul to Yule (We’re Just Not Halloween People)

October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 B.J. MaxwellChristian Life, Church Life, Current Events

In the 21st century the holiday season begins when summer ends. Stores capitalize on the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s Eve sales boon. The summer landscape transforms into a graveyard that quickchanges into the North Pole. Spider webs give way to icicles. Zombies concede the lawn to reindeer. Strobe lights dim into candles. Tombstones become nativities. Ghostly shrills quiet into carols. Candy corn is replaced by walnuts and cheap suckers by candy canes. The slide from ghoul […]

The Masculine Gospel: All Girls Allowed

March 8, 2017March 8, 2017 B.J. MaxwellBiblical Meditations, Christian Life, Church Life, Galatians, Romans, The Gospel, Theology

“Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal 4.7). The gospel of Jesus Christ is decidedly masculine but it is neither discriminatory nor chauvinist. In fact, the glory of the gospel is wrapped up in its masculinity rightly understood. Given the context of Scripture and the people among which the gospel spread, we want a masculine gospel. God […]

Talking Jesus in a Texting World

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017 B.J. MaxwellBiblical Meditations, Christian Life, Church Life

Jesus walked. He walked a lot. Always headed somewhere for someone, but never in a hurry. Always busy but never rushing. He wandered and meandered (like a pilgrim), prayed and taught (like a Master). Son of Man, Son of God. Roving and loving. The Way stopped along the way because no one was ever in the way. He doubled back and backtracked but was never sidetracked. He passed by and […]

Seeing Jesus in a Selfie World

January 10, 2017April 25, 2019 B.J. Maxwell1 & 2 Corinthians, Biblical Meditations, Christian Life, Colossians

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4.6). We could define generations by the new terms and catchphrases they (bit)coin. We could almost trace history solely using Oxford’s additions to its dictionary. The War. The Crash. The Bomb. The Pill. Watergate. […]

New Year Resolution: Better “Out Loud Time”

December 20, 2016December 10, 2019 B.J. MaxwellBiblical Meditations, Christian Life, Church Life

It’s that time of year again. Resolutions. The New Year welcomes full gyms and empty bank accounts. For many Christians it also brings more attention to Bible-reading/devotional plans and “quiet time” discipline. I certainly hope to be more diligent in that respect. The quiet time has become stock language for Christians. By it we mean that dedicated times and spaces where we meet alone with God in Scripture and prayer. Drawing […]

You’ve Elected Trump, Now Start Fostering & Adopting

November 9, 2016October 17, 2019 B.J. MaxwellChristian Life, Church Life, Current Events

I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. We live in a “red” state where the Republican candidate could’ve spared 650,000 third-party votes without affecting the outcome. We could’ve helped loosen the media’s stranglehold on the two-party system. And we could’ve helped to field more promising candidates in 2020. In reality, a vote for Trump in Tennessee was 2/3 wasted instead of 100% useful for electing a good president. But, that’s not my […]

Jesus is Not Color Blind

July 9, 2016July 11, 2016 B.J. MaxwellBiblical Meditations, Christian Life, Current Events, Revelation, The Gospel, Theology

White cops, Dead black men. Black snipers, Dead white cops. White, black, brown, or olive, Cain by any other name is still Cain (Gen 4.1-8). A spear. Brother-killer. The antithesis of God’s son (1 Jn 3.11-12). The spirit of antichrist that is already in the world (1 Jn 4.3). Most white cops don’t shoot black men. Most black men don’t snipe cops. Nevertheless, we exchanged God’s world of […]

Call Me Jamaal Sigvaldi Falco

March 29, 2016March 30, 2016 B.J. MaxwellBiblical Meditations, Christian Life

In 2013, PFC Bradley Manning was convicted as a national traitor for leaking classified military information. He faces 35 years in prison. Or does “he”? It seems Private Manning has declared himself to be Chelsea Manning, his long-time inner and true identity. After his arrest he released this statement: “As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea […]

To Know God is to Wrestle with God

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 B.J. MaxwellChristian Life, Psalms

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; but You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of Your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of you in death; in Sheol who […]

Should Christians Buy a Powerball Ticket?

January 10, 2016January 14, 2016 B.J. Maxwell1 & 2 Peter, Biblical Meditations, Christian Life, Current Events, Matthew

The current Powerball estimate is over $1 billion and counting. It’s no wonder a recent article in The Atlantic cited this staggering statistic: “According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, lotteries took in $70.1 billion in sales in the 2014 fiscal year. That’s more than Americans in all 50 states spent on sports tickets, books, video games, movie tickets, and recorded music sales.” The article concludes: “In an age […]