Never too Old to be too Young
I grew up in a small country Southern Baptist Church in rural California. When my family moved there our family of six doubled the size of the church. But, the church did grow over the years. As a Teenager When I was in high school, our youth group was “thriving”- there were probably 8-12 of […]
Remolding Idols of Clay
I grew up in a Southern Baptist world filled with sacred tunes of both the vintage and contemporary variety. Ironically, the tune that has framed my spiritual experience more than any other stemmed not from a nineteenth-century revivalist hymn writer but from a soft rock band born in the synthesized seventies. Styx released “Show Me […]
This is my Creed: Christ with me
On the Louisiana College campus, there’s a carillon at the top of one of the buildings that plays awful bell arrangements of popular traditional hymns at certain times during the day. When I was a student there, I would go back and forth between loving and hating it, but one day as it played “All […]
How Lies Spread
Over the last few years, I’ve been concerned about the state of truth in our nation and the proliferation of lies. As a Christian, I believe deeply in the reality of truth and it’s importance. But, I have been seeing the decline in the commitment to truth in all sorts of areas. I’ve seen it […]
The Religious White
Some of my earliest memories are filled with images of Pentecostal worship—from both above and beneath the pews, as I often slept under them during worship services. For most of my life, I’ve enjoyed preferred seating at local expressions of a world-wide spiritual movement known as Pentecostalism. My religious devotion first developed in Northeast Arkansas, […]
Change at Faith on View
There is a change in the virtual air here at Faith on View. In the Beginning Several years back I, Rondall, had the idea of starting a blog. The first article on this site was published on December 23, 2011. That first blog post was basically just announcing the birth of this blog. In that […]
Am I Hispanic/ Latino/ Chicano?
Am I Hispanic? It seems like such a simple question. But, ethnic identity can be complicated these days. I’m 6’5″ with grey eyes and light skin. My mother was from the Appalachian hills in east Tennessee. That is not typically how one thinks of a Chicano. I don’t think I’ve ever had a person who […]
Remembering when…. 9/11
**This is a blog post that I wrote on an old blog site which I no longer maintain. I didn’t want to lose this record and decided to copy it here.** A question that is often asked around this time of year: Where were you on “9/11”? […]
The Apologetic of Love
Don’t be “That Guy” When I was younger, I really loved apologetics. There is something compelling about knowing the answers. I liked the surety that it helped give me to know that I had a reasoned faith, a faith that was right and true. I don’t think I was that annoying guy who always had to […]
The Problem and Blessing of Transparency
When I started Faith on View in 2011, I wrote on the About page that transparency is a core value of mine and this blog would seek to be transparent. That declaration has been there for eight years now. Honestly, I knew I was a little nervous about being transparent but I never knew how hard […]