Category Archive: Scott Keith

Thanksgiving Traditions

By Joy Keith –

The Good:

This year the Keith Clan is heading to Gardnerville, NV to be with my hubby’s mom. We Keiths don’t have many traditions. Each and every year our nomadic family talks to each of the Grandmothers and one another to determine what the best Thanksgiving plan is. Will we go to Arizona to be with my mom, or NV to be by his? Will either one of them be able to come to CA? Are the grown kids able to get off work? Are people sick this year and can’t travel? Will we spend it with friends not too far away who we don’t see often enough? All these things seem to get thrown into the recipe of what will be the plan this year. So, our tradition seems to be that we have a lack of tradition. This is true concerning everything but what food we will eat. The menu is the same and a tradition: turkey, mashers and gravy, beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry and my absolute favorite––STUFFING, followed by the exquisitely baked pumpkin (and one alternating dish which is “TBD” by me each year) pies!

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Snowflake Temper Tantrums

By Scott Keith –

What is a snowflake? Well, a snowflake is a single ice crystal which falls through the Earth’s atmosphere. Complex shapes emerge as the flake moves through differing temperature and humidity regions, such that individual snowflakes are almost always unique in structure. Snowflakes are exceptionally beautiful and unique flakes of ice. Though they are beautifully unique, their makeup also makes them exceptionally fragile.

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Pining for Grandpa

By Scott Keith –

The other night, I took my children to see the new Marvel Comics movie, Dr. Strange. On the whole, it was not one of my favorite Marvel flicks. In fact, I was more struck by the young man sitting in front of me than I was by the movie. He was, I think, what you would call a “hipster.” He wore hiking boots with rolled up jeans, a buttoned up wool flannel shirt, and a beanie positioned above his ears with the pointy top rising off the top of his head. Frankly, he looked like a skinny lumberjack parading through the streets of San Juan Capistrano.

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Here We Still Stand: A Reformation Conference

By Scott Keith –

“Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light…”

—So opened Martin Luther’s 95 Theses on All Hallows’ Eve in 1517.

October 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This act jump-started the Protestant Reformation that spread the Good News far and wide that God saves sinners by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone—that people are justified as a pure gift on God’s part, totally apart from any of our best works or perceived goodness. His salvation is free at the beginning, middle, and end.

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You Better Stop Smoking or Else!

By Scott Keith –

Let me set the stage. After five days of being as sick as I have ever been in my life, my wife finally drags me to the urgent care. Now, keep in mind that I am really sick at this point. I a have 102° fever (often pushing 103°), I’m coughing my brains out, I have a horrendous headache, and generally look like death on a cracker. The first doctor I saw diagnosed me with an ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and said I might have pneumonia. So he gives me some antibiotics and we go home. But before I leave, I’m sent to a nurse to discuss a smoking cessation program. That’s right, at one point in my sickened stupor, I must have admitted that I smoke a pipe once or twice a week. That was enough to get the wheels of the medical-political machine moving. It no longer mattered that I was very ill with something that had absolutely nothing to do with smoking a pipe. All that mattered was that I was one of those evil ones:  a smoker.

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Conquering Armies

By Scott Keith –

Not long ago, we on the Thinking Fellows podcast had the opportunity to interview Dr. James Nestingen. Dr. Nestingen was my Doctor Father and is a good friend. I always love the chance to pick his brain. This time around we discussed Luther’s seminal work, The Bondage of the Will. Dr. Nestingen provided us with many gems, including the advice of reading the book backward, that is from the last half first and the first half last.

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Eating Our Own

By Scott Keith –

President Ronald Reagan is often credited with coining the so-called eleventh commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” Reagan used the term many times to discourage infighting within the GOP. I think that there is something to be learned from Reagan’s insistence on knowing when and with whom to pick a fight. A quick scan of the good ole Interweb––even (perhaps especially) when scrolling through “churchy” sites––will indicate we are all obsessed with eating our own.

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Your Girlfriend Is Stronger Than You Are

By Scott Keith –

My good friend David Rufner sent me an article recently that didn’t surprise me but did rile me up a bit. Written by David French, the article was in the National Review and titled “Young American males are losing touch with a critical element of true masculinity.” What grabbed me was the first few lines of the article. There, French says, “If you’re the average Millennial male, your dad is stronger than you are. In fact, you may not be stronger than the average Millennial female.”

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Mutual Brotherly Consolation and Forgiveness

By Scott Keith –

“As for myself, I judge the loss of all one’s possessions easier to bear than the loss of one faithful friend.” – Martin Luther

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis

Last week on the Thinking Fellows podcast, Dr. Rosenbladt and I interviewed one of the hosts of Front Porch with the Fitzes, Pastor Joel Fitzpatrick, on the topic of masculinity. It was interesting to me how quickly our conversation turned from masculinity to the subject of male friendships. (Fodder for another show, I’m sure.) What has become evident to me over the past several years of research is that the two topics––masculinity and male friendships––cannot be separated.

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Politics, Prayer, and Loving One’s Enemy

By Jonathan Ruehs –

It is called SB 1146. As much as I wish it were the name of a droid in the upcoming Star Wars film, it is, unfortunately, the title of a document that is making its rounds in the state assembly of California.

Essentially what this bill proposes is that all Christian institutions of higher education must comply with non-discrimination laws protecting the LGBT community. For example, Christian colleges and universities will need to make sure to make accommodations for LGBT students in residential halls, public restrooms, and the like. But more importantly,

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The Eternal Subordination of the Son

By Scott Keith –

There is a theological disagreement stewing in the evangelical world with which I think the Jagged Mafia should be made aware. The controversy is over something called the Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS). This week on the Thinking Fellows podcast, we talked with Elyse and Joel Fitzpatrick about the controversy, and the show has stirred up some lively conversation. What I’d like to do today is simply introduce our readers to what is going on, define some terms, and provide a very slight commentary.

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Lutheran Leprechauns

By Scott Keith –

I wasn’t much for fairy tales when I was a wee lad, but I always did enjoy a good leprechaun story. Maybe it is because I’m part Irish (I think), or maybe it was that ever-elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that drew me in. You see, a Leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore. Leprechauns are said to be smaller-statured (though often quite muscular) men who almost always sport an impressive red beard, are snappy dressers, and love to partake in creating a little mischief (Sound like anyone else you know?).

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#blessed

By Scott Keith –

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time among Evangelicals. Conferences, speaking engagements, and social gatherings have all provided opportunities for conversation and hopefully real Gospel proclamation. I’ve even become “friends” with a great many of my new acquaintances on Facebook. But, as a result, #blessed has caused my Facebook feed to be filled up with cute and quippy messages from my new Evangelical friends. What I’ve noticed the most is how often my new friends note that they are “blessed.”

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The Dragon’s Treasure

By Scott Keith –

I have a dog named Kai, who is a Siberian Husky. At one time, she was a legit sled dog. She, along with her three sisters, would pull me on a small, one-person sled around a 3.5-mile loop in a little place called Hope Valley, California, which is near Lake Tahoe. Kai was what is referred to as the lead dog, which is the dog who is in charge of all the other dogs and the one who listens to the directions of the musher (me). These days, she is a bit older and a lot slower. She still likes to pull, but now her pulling is on a collar, not a harness as we take our daily one-mile walk around the neighborhood.

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Happy 4th of July! I Don’t Feel Free!!

By Scott Keith –

Today, we celebrate our independence. Today, we shoot fireworks into the air, dress in red, white, and blue, drink American beer, and try to remember what makes the 4th of July such a big deal. Today, I wonder why I’m no longer patriotic. Today, I look around me and wonder if those who are celebrating so intently even know why they celebrate. (Watch this at your own risk: FAIL – Americans Don’t Know Why We Celebrate 4th of July!) Today, I ask myself why I no longer feel free.

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