That’s the most interesting thing about Valentines Day to me. We have no idea who St. Valentine is. We know St. Nicholas gave presents to kids. We know St. Patrick was into all things Irish (although his official saint color was blue.) So why is St. Valentine associated with love, hearts, and overpriced greeting cards? … More Who the Heck is St. Valentine?!?
I get asked often on advice for new Believers in beginning their journey of faith. In this post I may interchange the word “new” for “young” but I’m not referring to numerical age, but rather simply referring to someone’s lack of experience in their Christian walk. I actually think Americans have some unique challenges when … More Digital Discipleship 101: The First Steps for the New American Believer to Take
Let me make this clear. I’m not your therapist and especially not your psychiatrist. I guess I’m just your (online) pastor. So in no way take my discussion of addiction to mean that if you are in need of any type of counseling or prescribed medication that you should alter anything without consulting a doctor … More Time to Rethink How the Church Addresses Addiction
School is about to start. As a kid, that meant waking up way too early, not getting to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, and way too much school work. As a parent, it means that finally I can go to the bathroom in peace, I get to do … More So What the Heck Is “Quality” Family Time?
When it comes to marriage, both arguing and not arguing can be very destructive. You might argue a lot and have a great marriage. You might never argue and have a terrible one. And vice-versa. Arguing is more of an art than a science. Now this list is for 3 types of couples. And … More Rules for Allotta Arguing
VBS is kind of like giving birth. For months, the average churchgoer doesn’t even realize there’s a VBS coming. It’s not until you’re just a few days from the due date that anyone offers you help in any way whatsoever. Actually giving birth to a VBS takes way longer than you remember. You start on … More What VBS Teaches Your Church
I’m sure there are some reasons that Christian Camps are detrimental, but I’ll let someone else be Debbie Downer. I love camp. I love everything about camp. Teenagers are over-worked, over-stressed, and over-stimulated. The norm for a teenager is an inconsistent 65 hours of sleep meaning they get 5 hours some nights and 11 hours … More Why Christians Should Send Their Teens to Camp
It’s kind of funny to me that pastors pray the Lord’s Prayer in church. The whole point of Jesus sharing this prayer was to not just say some memorized prayer, but instead pray like this. So we turned around and just memorized that prayer instead. Awesome. Prayer is the coolest thing in the world. We … More Stop Praying the Lord’s Prayer and Start Actually Praying
So you think you found an error in Scripture. Quick, what do you do? A) Become an Atheist Seems a little extreme, but the truly committed non-believer thinks that every Christian is but a un-crossed “t” or an un-dotted “i” away from throwing their faith in the garbage like left-over Taco Bell that got stuck … More Uh Oh, I Might Have Found a Mistake in the Bible
I don’t know the answer to that question. Not completely anyway. I can narrow it down some and eliminate some possibilities, but I’m still left with a giant, heaping pile of “I’m not sure.” It’s natural to have thoughts like, am I being punished? Is God trying to get my attention? Is God not listening … More Why Does God Heal Some People and Not Others?
Joe Allotta 