We frequently live in self-reinforcing bubbles; we erect strawmen; we Bulverise; we divide the world into heroes and villains, “defenders of the faith” and “repugnant cultural others”; we find it easy to react and hard to listen; we valorize and demonize; we put ourselves on the side of the angels and find it hard to see good in... Continue Reading

“With little effort and a whole lot of pride, you too can destroy your marriage. And any time you do, you destroy a powerful image of Christ’s covenant love for his people. Sadly, the world will be happy to let you get away with this murder.”   Marriage is work. Especially if you want one... Continue Reading

Jimmy Kimmel and the NFL knee-benders clearly have a right to express their opinions. That freedom is one of the beauties of living in the USA rather than China or North Korea. What is sad is that the sound-bite opinions and cheap gestures of these entertainers seem to carry a cultural and political weight that... Continue Reading

Needless to say the obituaries for Hefner, even if they acknowledge the seaminess, have been full of encomia for his great deeds: Hef the vanquisher of puritanism, Hef the political progressive, Hef the great businessman and all the rest. There are even conservative appreciations, arguing that for all his faults Hef was an entrepreneur who appreciated the finer things... Continue Reading

The long-run, though, is quite different. Jesus will reign. In the meantime, the Good Shepherd searches the thickets for his lost sheep. And sometimes for a lost rabbit, too. The sign of the good life is not hedonism but crucifixion. The sign of the good life is not a bunny but a cross.   Overnight, we... Continue Reading

This is the final in a series of three posts (read the first here and the second here) about the ways in which one PCA church has responded to a case of abuse. In this post, I examine the ways in which Jessica’s church leaders protected the status quo, at her expense.   After it... Continue Reading

Until our bodies are made new, like the body Jesus now enjoys, our calling is not to escape fleshly existence, nor to sanctify culture (since it is “common,” shared by believer and unbeliever, and cannot be made holy), but to so influence our culture as to make it more consistent with the created nature of man, and to... Continue Reading

Speaking of force, it strikes me that those who desire only to raise their families and run their businesses according to their personal belief systems are the ones so often accused of “forcing their morality” on the world.   The headline of an article in The New York Times poses an interesting question: “Cake is... Continue Reading

Christians wouldn’t murder someone they disagree with in the name of standing for the truth. Yet some believers use social media to assassinate an individual’s character, going far beyond the critique of a specific action or words. As James writes, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so”... Continue Reading

Liberal arts institutions are the incubators of critical and creative activism. They should also be the guardians of true tolerance, allowing students to voice their ideas without the pressure to conform nor fear of backlash. Anyone participating in dialogue should exhibit not only patience (and admittedly patience can run out at times) but also respect—respect... Continue Reading