Tag: God

Reblogged Guest Post: Reflections on Lent

The Portly Politico26 Comments

Regular contributor Ponty abstained from commenting on blogs and social media during the Lent season.  He really stuck with it, too—I didn’t hear a word from here, save for some very good news on on occasion.

The sacrifice of something you enjoy for Lent is an exercise in refocusing your attention on God.  By giving up even a small pleasure (or vice), it helps us to reflect on what that “small” thing actually costs.  Could it be that small indulgence is a stumbling block to our faith?  Could it be keeping us from achieving more valuable and enduring things?

Ponty explores these and other themes in this beautiful post about his Lenten journey.  Ponty originally published this piece at FreeSpeechBacklash.com, a site in the broader Portly Politico Multiverse (or maybe The Portly Politico is just a site in the broader FSB Cinematic Universe—who knows?).  Graciously, Free Speech Backlash isn’t picky about its writers republishing on other sites, so I’m taking the opportunity to do so here.  I think the piece is well worth your time.

With that, here is Ponty with his “Reflections on Lent“:

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Good Friday

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Today is Good Friday, a day to remember the Sacrifice Christ Made on the Cross so that we might be saved.  The fun part of the celebration is Easter, when Christ Arose from the tomb, proclaiming victory over Death.  Today, we Christians reflect on the magnitude of His Sacrifice.

I’ll be spending this evening with Dr. Girlfriend, and we’ll be enjoying the Easter weekend together.  We are both looking forward to a relaxing and prayerful weekend after some very busy months.

Thank God that He Sent His Son to Die for our sins.  We don’t deserve it; Christ Did not deserve it.  That makes it all the more powerful.

Praise the Lord!

—TPP

TBT^4: Go to Church

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At present, it feels like the United States is experiencing a major Christian religious revival just below the surface.  It seems like being a professing Christian has become—dare I say it?—cool.  The desire for genuine connection with Christ and a body of likeminded believers ripples throughout the nation, potentially bucking the long, depressing trend of declining faith.

While Boomers seemed to embrace the excuse to stay home from The Age of The Virus—they left churches and never returned—at least some young people are realizing the benefits of church attendance.  It feels like something is changing, that the Holy Spirit Is Moving in mighty ways.

Let’s hope that feeling is correct!  Regardless, in good times and bad (especially bad), we should be going to church, engaging in the our Christian walk with fellow believers.  The Easter season is the perfect time to get back into the habit.

With that, here is 25 April 2024’s “TBT^2: Go to Church“:

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TBT^256: Nehemiah and National Renewal

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Ah, yes, another timeless TPP classic—my highly politicized commentary on Nehemiah.  It’s a powerful story of God’s people working together and placing their faith and trust in Him, overcoming formidable odds in the process.  It’s a great “But God” story—rebuilding this wall would have been impossible but for God.

From an historical standpoint, the story is also an important reminder that the life cycle of nations is often cyclical.  Perhaps no people understood that better than the Hebrews, who were often the cause of their own misery, thanks to their tendency to forget about God as soon as things got comfortable.  That sin is not unique to the Hebrews, ancient or modern; it is an affliction all peoples in all times have struggled to resist.

We’re in a moment of national renewal in the United States.  Let us remember, when the times are good again, that it was Divine Providence—God—that allowed us this reprieve, this second chance.

With that, here is 14 March 2024’s “TBT^16: Nehemiah and National Renewal“:

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Super Sleepy Sunday

The Portly Politico8 Comments

It’s been a whirlwind weekend for yours portly and Dr. Girlfriend. Dr. G is on a particularly brutal ER rotation at the moment, which sees her awake at 4:30 AM and out the door around 5:15 AM. It’s a rural emergency room in a very poor county, so she sees some truly heartbreaking and troubling stuff. She also had a schizophrenic patient throw an EKG machine and a bag of nickels at her, her attending physician, and a nurse. On top of that, she had to work a twelve-hour in-patient shift at a larger urban hospital Saturday, so she is beat.

My exhaustion stems from more self-inflicted sources: two late nights with Civilization VII. My nephew also had his birthday party yesterday morning, so I woke up at 4:30 AM alongside Dr. Girlfriend (in something of a show of solidarity, but also to make the party on time) and drove about three-and-a-half hours from Dr. G’s to see my family. It was a great party and I was glad I could attend.

I then turned around and drove back to Dr. G’s, and knocked out several things around her place. She has been so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted, I wanted to lighten her load. I managed to get some laundry done (still in the process of that), clean her kitchen, pickup dinner, take care of Murphy and her sweet dog, and get a few other small tasks done.

The elation that she experienced upon seeing all of these menial household tasks attended to was well worth the effort expended. We enjoyed a great pizza dinner and some tea before both proceeding to sleep for hours. I think I slept for about ten hours, which is a lot for me. Dr. Girlfriend slept for probably twelve hours, and is now dozing some more after her morning (well, early afternoon) espresso and Bible reading. I’m updating the budget after our nice Valentine’s steak dinner and a lot of gassing up from traversing the Carolinas the past few days.

I am so very thankful for the Lord’s many Blessings. The Sabbath is surely one of them. Dr. Girlfriend and I always attend church on Sundays, attending at either her church or mine. I made the executive decision, however, that we would “lay out” today, as I think the rest will benefit both of us spiritually far more than the contemporary rock band and lengthy sermons at her church (the sermons are excellent, but definitely a tad too lengthy). Instead, we’ll do a devotional together this afternoon and observe the Sabbath the way the LORD Did when He Created everything.

We are both very tired, but very happy. It is good.

SubscribeStar Saturday: 2024 in Review

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Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

2024 was one helluva year.  In some ways, it felt like three years in one, at least for me.

The first half of the year was a joyless grind.  The next quarter was a blend of summertime boredom and renewed purpose as the school year dawned.  The final quarter has been incredibly exciting and uplifting.

What a difference a few months make!  October and especially November felt like major turning points for the world, the United States, and even yours portly individually.

I’ve been thanking God for His many Blessings.  I though it would be appropriate, then, to glance back at the year that is nearly expired, and to celebrate what He Has Done.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Monday Morning Movie Review: Nefarious (2023)

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It is rare for a modern film to catch and hold my rapt attention for 97 minutes, especially when I’m driving.  But amid my various Thanksgiving travels, I “watched” the 2023 film Nefarious.  Thank goodness it’s mostly dialogue, or I would have had a very difficult time of it.

The film is an adaptation of the Steve Deace novel A Nefarious Plot (Amazon Affiliate link; I get a portion of any sales made through that link, at no additional cost to you).  Steve Deace is a conservative writer and commentator, and Glenn Beck makes an appearance in the film, so that gives you a sense for the general messaging of the movie.

That said, while Nefarious is a Christian horror movie—which, I would argue, most horror involving the demonic is fundamentally Christian in some way—it is genuinely entertaining, and does not feel like heavy-handed propaganda.  Instead, it is an incredibly effective portrayal of the sheer wickedness of demons, and how Satan delights in our sin.

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Phone it in Friday LXXIII: YouTube Roundup XXIX: “CRAMPED!”; A Little Praise Report

The Portly Politico8 Comments

Yours portly is still playing catch-up this Friday, so I’m really phoning it in.  I’m actually writing this hasty post mere minutes before my usual 6:30 AM EST posting deadline, so I’ll doubtless be a tad late with this post.

There isn’t one particular reason why I’ve fallen behind a bit on posting (and several other things!).  Life is good and my schedule at work is very manageable.  It’s mostly a situation of having several things to get done at once, combined with some long days of lessons and errands.

But I am very blessed.  Wednesday evening I was out running some errands—I needed to pick up ingredients for a taco dip I bring to parties, as the teachers had a “Friendsgiving” potluck meal yesterday—and my car battery died in the Taco Bell parking lot (that wasn’t for Friendsgiving; that was for me).

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