Real Life by Peggi Tustan

Welcome to Real Life . Can we handle the truth? I will ignore you so hard, you will start to doubt your own existence. –Anonymous In the early 2000’s, money was easy to come by. Predatory lenders targeted low-income home buyers who could never realistically repay those loans. Rules were bent. Truth was ignored. But ignoring a problem doesn’t resolve it. The housing bubble popped. The Financial Crisis of 2008 [1] plunged our nation and world into a severe depression. Could it happen again? You bet. Because we live in a culture that doesn’t value truth, especially negative truth. Don’t tell me I can’t. Tell me how I can. Give me good news. Entertain me. We are children unwilling to heed a parent’s instruction. In the prophet Isaiah’s day, Israel had stopped listening to their Father-God. So, he sent Isaiah with an unpopular message. Judgement is coming. Because God loves us passionately, he disciplines us. He allows trials, pandemics, wars, sickness, and economic hardships. For when li...

Welcome to Real Life . Black and white rarely is. Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty And the pig likes it.  –George Bernard Shaw Disheveled, the woman is dragged into the temple courts. Shame, embarrassment, and fear surround her. The punishment for adultery is stoning—to death. Clearly, she is guilty. Caught in the very act. “Now what do you say, Teacher?” the religious authorities ask.  What can he say? The law is black and white. But this accusation is a dirty grey. Because these leaders care little for this woman or her transgression. If they sincerely sought justice, where is the man? Adultery requires two. They hunger not for justice, but blood—Jesus’ blood. They were seeking to trap Jesus into saying something, anything they could use to arrest him. In upholding the letter of the law, these teachers of the law miss the heart of the law—God’s heart. Sin is wrong because it destroys us. That's why he wants us to stay far from it. Adultery rips apart lives, marri...