Longer Articles:

Anselm's Explanation of the Trinity
How can the Father, Son and Holy Spirit each be God, but not be each other? This is Archbishop Anselm's explanation - the best I've heard so far.

Anselm at Starbucks
A new look at Anselm's argument for the existence of God.

The Divine Inferno
Why the existance of Hell is a demonstration of God's mercy.

1000 Easter Balloons
What if, on Easter Sunday morning, after services, every church in town released yellow balloons?

Scary Meditation
What is the difference between Eastern meditation and Christian meditation?

The Golfer of the Gaps
Have you heard that our God is a "God of the Gaps," only invoked to explain increasingly small gaps in science? Here's that logic applied to golf.

Esther's Japanese Origins
Using the approved "wild extrapolation" method, I've conclusively shown that the Biblical Book of Esther is of Japanese origin.

But I Was Born That Way
When people use this excuse, why do we keep trying to talk them out of it?

Digital Reality
Is reality digital? I couldn't care less, but if it is, maybe that's one point for the theistic view.

Church Economics
It's kind of fun to see companies becoming successful using the kind of financing churches have used for ages.

Legislating Morality
You can't legislate morality! Really? If you can't legislate morality, what can you legislate?

Paganism in Christmas and Easter?
A writer thought I ought to stop celebrating Christmas and Easter. It had pagan origins, he said. So what, I replied.

Shooting the Wounded
In which I launch a diatribe against a phrase I find particularly shallow and offensive.

Evolving Computers
What computers do - or don't - show us about evolution.

Are All Religions the Same?
A Buddhist's view.

Church Economics

It's interesting to watch as a number of computer companies discover an economic model the church has used for almost two thousand years.

I don't begrudge these entrepreneurs the discovery. The church certainly never clamored for the rest of the world to adopt its model, and I doubt most of us Christians even imagined the model could be used outside of the church context.

Nevertheless, it is being used outside the church, and it interesting to watch.

Let me set the stage.

For ages the church (or much of the church) has relied upon freely given contributions to finance its services, charities and outreach. Anybody can walk in the door and worship God (or just enjoy the music) without spending a cent. Freeloaders abounded (and still do), but it still works.

How much like shareware this is. For example, anybody can download a copy of TextPad (a superb text editor) and use it for nothing. And no doubt many do. But there are enough people who pay the fee to make the economic model work.

Oops! That reminds me. I need to stop being a freeloader and pay for my copy of TextPad. (And no, I don't have any connection with the company aside from loving its text editor.)

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
– Hebrews 10:25