“On a larger scale, sports are very much like a religion to fans like me. We worship and study. We proselytize. We tell others how to act. We abide by a rhythmic calendar and a set of rituals. We seek to argue people into agreement with us and try to persuade them with everything from... Continue Reading

“I think that the official attitude toward religion has little if anything to do with Marxism, but a lot with Confucianism: Most of religion is a lot of superstition and it can be subversive of social order. If one cannot eradicate it, one must contain it—basically, a policy of disease control. Presiding over this containment... Continue Reading

“Similar conflicts are playing out on a handful of campuses around the country, driven by the universities’ desire to rid their campuses of bias, particularly against gay men and lesbians, but also, in the eyes of evangelicals, fueled by a discomfort in academia with conservative forms of Christianity. The universities have been emboldened to regulate... Continue Reading

“Conflict is everywhere people are, and it seems to be escalating. The incivility of our culture is having a toxic effect on ministry and congregations. The Faith Communities Today survey of 14,000 congregations found that 75 percent of churches have experienced some level of conflict. At any given time, one-fifth of congregations are in active... Continue Reading

“As someone who waited until I was married to have sex, I was assured that I would be guaranteed an easy and rewarding sex life. When reality turned out to be different, I was disappointed and disillusioned. Only through gradual conversations with other married friends did I realize I wasn’t alone.”   I’ve heard people... Continue Reading

“While there are numerous leading indicators that can foretell the future of a nation’s economy, there are few metrics that serve to predict its spiritual direction. Such metrics can be useful, though, which is why I want to make the case for what might seem like an unusual spiritual indicator: Annual baptisms in the Southern... Continue Reading

“Turretin addresses the nature of sanctification and good works in the seventeenth topic, in 5 questions. Like Aquinas’ Summa Theologica (1274) and Ursinus’ Summa Doctrinae (1585 et seq), Turretin used a catechetical (question and answer) method of instruction. The first question concerns the definition of sanctification.”   In part 1 we looked briefly at some... Continue Reading

“We will never outgrow God’s plan for our growth. Neglecting the means of grace can only result in spiritual loss. The sad irony is that those who neglect the means of grace and thus spiritually deteriorate are often unable to understand why they have so degenerated. They’ve become so spiritually anemic that they no longer... Continue Reading

“Overall, I was quite pleased with the book, though, as with any such collection, the essays vary, not so much in quality, but as in how they affected me. I found C. John Collins’ essay thin and unconvincing. The most helpful is Leland Ryken’s essay “Reclaiming the Psalms for Private Worship.” The essays by Craig... Continue Reading

“The difference between good and bad marriages is not that good marriages don’t struggle. The difference between good and bad marriages is that the good ones know how to handle conflict in a Christ-like, respectful, and humble way. How do the two of you handle conflict? Do you tend to leave things lingering?”   Thinking... Continue Reading