Life in the world of men consists of partial statements, misinformation, disinformation, and 95 percent of the truth mixed in with 5 percent of the lie, and the winner of the game is the one who recognizes this and doesn’t get caught.

Words are powerful, but actions are as much, or more so. Seaside Story, original painting by Steve Henderson, sold. Licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas, ICanvasART, Framed Canvas Art, and Light in the Box.

Unfortunately, many of the same techniques are used within the spiritual realm — knowingly and unknowingly — and among Christians, the equivalent statement to “We have the lowest prices in town!” is

“Jesus loves you!”

While it’s a true statement, when mindlessly sung out to somebody’s retreating back, it really doesn’t mean much, and instead of saying it all the time, we might consider living it by treating every person we meet — including and probably especially the grocery store clerk — with friendly conviviality.

Please read the rest of the story at “Jesus Loves You!” — Enough, Already at my BeliefNet blog, Commonsense Christianity.

I have assembled a number of my essays into book form, The Misfit Christian, which I have self-published through Amazon (do you think that the publishers of establishment Christianity, which are owned by secular companies, want Christians to stop following human leaders and start thinking, loudly and outrageously, for themselves?)

I encourage you to look at and into the book if you’ve ever felt out of the loop, not quite part of the party, and dancing to a different song than  everyone else.