Tunnel Vision: The Personal Purgatory of Kevin Tunell
A tunnel vision that focuses on sin with no relief of basking in mercy will leave us in despair
Suzan’s parents offered to settle for a mere $936 [down from $1,500,000], on one condition: that Kevin pay the amount by sending them a check for $1, made out to the deceased Suzan Herzog, every Friday for the next eighteen years—one for every year Suzan had been alive. The penalty seemed like he had been... Continue Reading
Tornadoes, Tsunamis, and the Mystery of Suffering and Sovereignty
Thoughts on the Oklahoma tornado
Great natural disasters such as this tell us nothing about the comparative sinfulness of those who are its victims. Please do not conclude that the residents of Moore, Oklahoma, are more sinful than any other city that has not as yet experienced such devastation. Please do not conclude that we are more righteous than they... Continue Reading
Divorce, Remarriage, and Abuse
Part 3 of the review of Pastor Jeff Crippen's book, A Cry for Justice
In the case of abuse in marriage, the abuse victim is not the one destroying the marriage when he or she decides the marriage contract has been rendered null and void. That has already been accomplished by the abuser who has refused to love, honor, and cherish as he vowed before God to do. The... Continue Reading
The “Why” Behind the IRS Scandal
The Agency’s decisions to pursue individual organizations that oppose the administration’s public policies, is legally, morally, politically and ethically unacceptable. Perhaps more simply, however, it is linguistically unacceptable. Where Bob Jones lost its tax exemption for running afoul of “established public policy,” the IRS is targeting groups that disagree with the “administration’s public policies.” ... Continue Reading
Tragic Worship
A church with a less realistic view of life than one can find in a movie theater?
Bonhoeffer once asked, “Why did it come about that the cinema really is often more interesting, more exciting, more human and gripping than the church?” Why, indeed. Maybe the situation is even worse than I have described; perhaps the churches are even more trivial than the entertainment industry. After all, in popular entertainment one does... Continue Reading
The Boy Scouts of America and “The Fork in the Road”
The result is the BSA has come to a “fork in the road” and will have to “take it” in a vote by its General Council this week.
But at the moment it is the BSA which is at a “fork in the road” and you must “take it.” The path of “principled leadership” promises not only to maintain a marvelous legacy but actually build on it with that glorious leadership attribute of moral courage even in the face of an assured response... Continue Reading
Speaking Terms: Witnessing and the Military
What happens to free speech in a regulatory era?
What’s so ironically outrageous about the bureaucrats’ suggested restrictions on free speech among military personnel is that anyone anywhere even thinks about imposing such limits on the very uniformed people who have pledged their lives to protecting our freedoms. We should be ashamed to let such thoughts cross our minds. Not sure what all the... Continue Reading
Who Are Your Heroines?
Scripture gives us real heroines who did the little stuff, the messy stuff, and the necessary stuff.
Adult women need heroines, too. But these extraordinary women are little overwhelming to me. Truly, I can’t conquer the laundry, let alone find a cure for cancer. I take joy in the fact that the heroines in Scripture are outwardly less splashy than those from women’s history month. “Mother shuns Disney Princess ideal and... Continue Reading
Four Further Thoughts on the Complementarian Conversation
It seems to me the current conversation is mainly about two things: abuse and application.
Where have complementarian principles been abused? How are complementarian principles best applied? Those are fair questions. There are black and white issues, but just as many gray ones (which is why Danvers is thick on principles and thin on specifics). We should be able to talk about the applications without assuming that everyone to the... Continue Reading
A Prayer for the People of the Oklahoma Tornado Tragedy
As part of our support, praying for the people ravaged by the Oklahoma tornado
Lord, we are desperate to release our burden for the grieving people of Oklahoma as we lift their needs before Your throne of mercy… Encourage those who sit amidst the ruin and rubble of what was once their homes, like Jeremiah weeping, and help them to rebuild and give them a faith beyond their own... Continue Reading