Articles by Jason Hiett

The world keeps moving and things keep changing.  Just last week America voted in a historic election.  For the first time in history the United States of America has a black president-elect.  He has been called, through all the ad campaigns, smear tactics, propaganda and fear mongering, things like “Barack Obama is a terrorist, the Anti-Christ, Santa Claus, the cause of Global Warming, the end of the world as we know it, the savior and messiah of the human race and the man who shot Liberty Valance.”  I do not believe Barack Obama is any of those things.  I do not care for the man as a politician because I disagree with his viewpoints and stances on a lot of things.  But what I believe about Barack Obama is beside the point. 

In this time of uncertainty for the future and after this historic election I have heard many Christians say things along the lines of “God is in control” or “It’s in God’s hands”.  These are in fact true statements.  I agree with those statements, but in effect what these Christians are saying is “I wash may hands of any and all personal responsibility and this is just a cop-out I use to get myself out of actually taking a stance, standing firm and possibly getting mud on my face if I am wrong.”  My question is: when did Christianity become an excuse or cop out for a person’s personal responsibility? Read the rest of this entry »

John 13:1-30 reads:

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve had this issue on my heart for quite some time and I’ve been thinking about it deeply.   By no means do I have the right answer or even the best answer.  However I would like to share my thoughts.

When did it become ok for us as Christians to shift the blame?  When did we as Christians lose our personal responsibility?  When did it become ok to shift the blame for my actions onto someone or something else?  When did it become okay for Christians to basically say, “The Devil made me do it”? 

I have too often heard many mature and immature Christians say, “I only fell because the Devil made me” or “If only the Devil hadn’t then I wouldn’t have.”  Or my personal favorite, straight from the pulpit of many churches, “We must fight the Devil because he is the one that causes you to sin.”  Now some of you may be thinking, “What’s wrong with that?”  Well I’ll tell you what’s wrong.  It shifts the blame from us to someone or something else. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I enjoy waking up every morning to a nice cup of hot tea, Earl Grey, hot, and sitting on the couch while cracking open the New England Journal of Medicine.  However, if you are like most normal people in this world and you’re not like me you probably have no idea that earlier this week the New England Journal of Medicine has redefined death.  The Journal and its staff, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that you shall be claimed legally or at least medically dead after 75 seconds without a heartbeat.  Now most of you are probably saying that seems like a long time, and it is but when you consider that there have been numerous documented cases of people who have had their hearts stopped for 75 seconds or more (the longest I’ve heard of is 5 minutes). 

Now that is significant.  What this means is that doctors will now have the power to choose not to revive you in order to declare you dead so they can harvest your organs for transplant.  That doesn’t seem like a bad idea to give organs to people in need. But at the cost of a life that could be saved, that is a stretch.

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I just found out that one of my long time friends, from way back in middle school days, and her husband are expecting their first child, a baby girl.  They were able to post their first ultrasound on Facebook, and I had the privilege to see this most amazing video.  Now, I don’t know where you, as the reader, stand on the issue of abortion, but I personally don’t support it.  After watching this ultrasound I am even more opposed to abortion. 

I have been against abortion for quite some time, but never with the same resolve and conviction I feel right now.  What about this video could have changed and strengthened my resolve so much?  It was the simple fact that the child is alive.  I always knew the child or “fetus” was alive, but not like this.  I finally made the connection between knowing and feeling.  As I watched this brief, silent five-minute clip of this grainy black and white ultrasound, I finally realized what it truly means to say that the child is alive.  I was just stunned that some people could say this child is not alive and that it is nothing more than a parasite equivilant and can be freely tossed in the trash with no remorse and repercussions. 
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You have probably heard the saying, “to be a child at heart” or some sort of variation of it. It encourages adults to be more childlike. This seems like a decent idea on the surface. As I was walking across campus and pondering, as is my custom, I started to think hard about this statement. I realized the idea is one we as growing Christians should not take to heart. We should model our lives around this attitude. The common understanding or thought behind this saying is that children are innocent, naïve and care- free, and that we as adults should value these childlike qualities in our own life. However, these are states that a mature and growing Christian should not abide by.
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