The Em Dash

For one, you’ll probably see some em dashes in future articles. The em dash is this guy: “—”. They’re my treasured tool for extending sentences that need to be extended—like this sentence. Or calling attention to a random important thought—like this thought—in the middle of a sentence. A parenthesis just doesn’t cut it for important thoughts. Parentheses are supposed to be whispered. You could even delete a parenthesis and nobody would even notice!

Sadly, the grammar nazis and a bunch of other people advise writers to use the em dash less. Maybe it’s because the people who have a problem with it like it a little too much. Malone on Slate Magazine says in her article against the em dash, “I never met a sentence I didn’t want to make just a bit longer—and so the dash is my embarrassing best friend.” And then she confesses to her addiction to the em dash, “But as I’ve read and written more in the ensuing years, my reliance on the dash has come to feel like a pack-a-day cigarette habit—I know it makes me look and sound and feel terrible—and so I’m trying to quit.”

I don’t know. Maybe someone who struggles with an addiction shouldn’t advise others on how much they use the em dash. All addictions are bad and can have deadly results. Plus, you can be addicted to anything. Peter does say, “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Pet. 2:19 ESV). If the em dash overcomes you, brethren—if the “sensual passions of the flesh” (2 Pet. 2:18 ESV) overtake you—just remember Jesus’s words: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36 ESV). Jesus can and will set you free from the em dash.

On the other hand, if you have not been overcome by the em dash, please use and enjoy this wonderful blessing of God. (And if you are a fan of the em dash, you might also love this article that gives six reasons why the em dash is so great.)

“In him we… exist.”

As you might have guessed by now with all those Bible verses, I believe in God. But let me be specific about who this God is. This God is a person, who shows himself to us in his word, the Bible (FYI, the Bible itself claims that it is God inspired), and our existence comes from this God. Hopefully, those three things filtered out ninety-nine million other gods you might have thought I was talking about.

But what does God have to do with this blog? Well, as a subject of God’s kingdom, I have a calling to “do all to the glory of God” “whether [I] eat or drink, or whatever [I] do” (1 Cor. 10:31 ESV). Still, what am I to do specifically?

I could give you a long explanation, explaining in detail our gifts, responsibility, calling, and desires, but I’ll save that for another time. The short answer is that I believe God has given me gifts that allow me to create and write for this blog, the responsibility to not waste my gifts, a calling to share truth with others, and the desire to please him in this way.

I normally hate these quote boxes, but I liked that last sentence. Tada:

The short answer is that I believe God has given me gifts that allow me to create and write for this blog, the responsibility to not waste my gifts, a calling to share truth with others, and the desire to please him in this way.

What Kind of Truth?

Now, what kind of truth am I going to be sharing? None other than God’s Truth. However, this won’t be a strictly theological blog. There’s a popular saying, “All truth is God’s Truth.” (I don’t know who said it first. Maybe Augustine?) And the Bible says that the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 16:13 NKJV).

But, I’ll try to remember John Piper’s warning. He says, “All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.” So, I’ll try to share truth in the light of God’s majesty and beauty, as the Psalms say, speaking of creation, “Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!” (Ps. 8:9 CSB) (Notice I said, “try.” We all fail frequently. If I fail, please tell me and encourage me to do better.)

Topics

Ok, moving on to “What kinds of truth should I expect to see on this blog?” Ah, that is an excellent question. Let me boil my content policy down to one phrase: “Expect the unexpected.” One day you might be thinking that this is a theology blog. The next day, a medical journal. The day after that, the musings of a demented mastermind. Who knows?

Yet, I can give you some guidance on what to… unexpect 😏.*

I like to write about fundamental things that we’ve been lied about. You might not think about it much, but consider this: The devil “is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44 ESV). A lie is anything that contradicts the truth and the truth is anything that is real. Because Satan hates humanity, he loves to twist the truth, not only to hide our need for a savior but also to harm us. “He was a murderer from the beginning” (ibid.).

This means that even in areas that don’t seem to directly relate to the Bible, we should be keeping an eye out for Satan’s lies so that we aren’t deceived and then harmed. And remember, with the mindset of Christ and the truth from the Holy Spirit, we can unveil and combat these lies. (I’ll write more on that later.)

I am passionate about unveiling lies and sharing truth in the areas of:

• Medicine
  • Are pharmaceuticals overused?
  • Are traditional treatments for cancer safe? Do they even work?
• Politics
  • Should we listen to evil commands from an evil government?
  • Should we reject an evil government?
  • Does God want us to follow all of the government’s laws?
• Economics
  • What economic policy would God approve of and call “righteous”?
  • Are socialism and capitalism unjust?
  • If capitalism is supposedly better, then why do things seem so unfair in America?
• Theology
  • How does an eternal God relate to time?
  • In what way is our being found in God?
  • If God makes everything exist, then are our experiences and choices real?
  • How can God both be just and loving?
• Physics
  • Does Quantum Mechanics mean that everything is random?
  • How do we see God in the smallest of particles?
• Geology
  • Does geology show that the earth is old or young, and does that even matter?
  • If it seems pretty clear that the Bible tells us there was a worldwide flood, do we see evidence for that?
  • Why is fossil collecting limited to “certified scientists”?
• Psychology
  • Why is there a scientific field that studies the soul?
  • Does psychology have any merit even if it is based on misguided assumptions?
  • What is logotherapy?

Of course, this list isn’t a complete summary. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to say “Expect the unexpected.”

More Topics

In Paul and Timothy’s letter to the Philippians, it says to focus on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute” (Phil 4:8 NASB1995). Not only do I like to combat lies, but I also like to share good and interesting tips, truths, and discoveries about God’s world. This is because studying, thinking, and enjoying things in this world can glorify God if we honor God for his creation of them.

Some fascinating subjects include:

• Language
  • Learning Language
  • The mysteries of communication.
  • All about writing and reading.

• Math (the interesting kind)
  • Fractals and fractals in nature.
• Music
  • Why is it so powerful?
  • How does it work?
  • The genre of “wonder.”
• Mnemenology (the study of memory)
• Wisdom
  • What is the best way to live?
  • What should we be doing?
  • What should not be doing?

I could keep on going, but who wants to read another mile-long list?

Books

The second reason I wanted a blog is very related to the first. Not only do I desire to please God through this blog, but also through books. So far I’ve written one, republished one, I’m working on another, and there are a bunch of prototypes. (See the books.) I’ll write more about my books later.

Telling you what’s going on with my latest book, giving you sneak peeks, and maybe even asking if you’d like to help with one of the books is the other purpose of this blog. Posts related to my books will go into the Writing Updates category. Everything else will go into the Thoughts category.

That’s it.

There you have it. That’s it. Just a little backstory behind the blog and a little insight into what’s coming next.

If you want to, leave a comment below on what topics you would want written about on this blog. I am frequently frustrated when I can’t find a single thing on the entire internet about certain topics. I would love for this blog to be a place where people can find the answers to questions nobody else has answered.

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Notes:

* I am not opposed to the occasional emoji in writing. You might say it’s not a word, but it is! Emojis are symbols (or pictograms) of certain abstract ideas like mischievousness (😏), cat-like wickedness (😼), or depression (😔). I think some people despise them because they can be very inexact compared to words. But other cultures such as the Alaska Native culture rely heavily on body language to communicate. It’s kind of similar to our modern usage of emojis. I think one of the bigger reasons they aren’t liked by some people is because they’re new. And new things don’t have defined rules. And without rules, how will you know if the grammar nazis will approve of your writing!