There’s been some progress in breast cancer research recently, which is great news for the millions of women who face the threat of the disease every year.  But the biggest battle right now may be in what direction the largest fund-raising organization for breast cancer research takes in the coming year.  The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has for years been fending off reports that they were linked with Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in America.  This was especially egregious, given that medical research indicates a direct link between abortion and incidence of breast cancer!  In effect, Komen was raising money to research a cure for breast cancer, then passing some of that money on to an organization whose single predominant function was to perform abortions, which causes breast cancer! Komen denied it’s involvement, or said that its funds only went to fund breast examinations, and the story held up – until this year.  Then Komen announced they were no longer going to send grant money...

The late Gary Coleman starred years ago as Arnold Jackson in the television comedy Different Strokes.  In the show, Coleman became famous for his character’s catchphrase, “What you talkin’ about, Willis?”  In this, my second blog entry, I figured someone might be wondering (imagine Arnold Jackson saying this), “What you talkin’ about, Phil?”  What subject drives me more than any other?  What can someone who frequents this blog know they’re going to be reading about?  What am I going to be talkin’ about?  The answer is, I’m gonna be talkin’ about the gospel of God’s grace.

It is now just over half a century since I trusted Christ as Savior.  As a young boy, my knowledge of difficult theological questions or life issues was limited; about the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to go to hell.  That was enough for my mother to sit me down and explain the ‘good news’ that God loved me, that sin separated me from God, but that God had sent Jesus to earth to die for my sin, and that by believing in Jesus...

While most of the world, it seems, has transitioned into communicating mostly in cyberspace, I have resisted.  If I’ve had something to say, I’ve ‘put it out there’ in newsletters or periodicals – the kind that are still printed on paper.  Electronic communication – like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. – is much quicker and pervasive.  The amount of information, personal or public, true or false, meaningful or nonsense, that fills the internet and other digital communication networks in a given day now, outstrips what came out in a year when I was born.  There is no way to keep abreast of what is happening in the world – now that everything can be reported (even what you had for breakfast) and passed on almost simultaneously – and anyone who wants to have a life has to select what to take the time to read.

With this in mind, I hesitantly enter the blogosphere – where billions of words have poured forth from a myriad of authors, all who consider their contribution a worthwhile addition to...