The production was top quality, the rhymes were absolutely “off the hook” (a good thing by the way), but it was more than the beats and lyrics. From the moment the first song blasted through the headphones, I recognized that these brothers truly had something to say about Christ and His Gospel! Something deeper than... Continue Reading

As Christians, when we participate in the various seasons of the church calendar, we are reminded that we are presently connected to Christians all over the world and with brothers and sisters in Christ over the past 2000 years. This rhythm and memory is bigger than any national holiday. It transcends nationalism.   When you... Continue Reading

There is no baby-boom – there is a birth-dearth. And, yes, there is economic stagnation and looming long-term economic decline, but this is exacerbated (or perhaps caused by) the decline in birth rates. We have witnessed this in the disastrous economic situation throughout Europe, which is due in part to extremely low birth rates. Europe’s fate appears increasingly... Continue Reading

Self is like fish, proverbially speaking. Give a man a fish and you’ve fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and, if he turns into a dry-fly catch-and-release angling fanatic up to his liver in icy water wearing ridiculous waders and an absurd hat, pestering trout with 3-pound test line on a... Continue Reading

But the church’s social teaching is no less an official teaching for allowing room for disagreement on its policy implications. And for Catholics who pride themselves on fidelity to Rome, the burden is on them — on us — to explain why a worldview that inspires left-leaning papal rhetoric also allows for right-of-center conclusions.  ... Continue Reading

Similarly, instead of recognizing that there are problems with the popular complementarian model, especially among men, complementarians are buckling down and becoming more demanding on the men that are sticking around. Eventually the men will jettison it altogether (and I can’t imagine women living in this state of bitterness too long before they tire of... Continue Reading

Even on this side of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, there is brokenness in our world that no cart full of Black Friday bargains can fix; there is hunger in our souls that no plateful of pumpkin custard can fill; there is twistedness in our hearts that no terrestrial hand can touch. “The whole creation,”... Continue Reading

So, why on earth would anyone want to pursue the pastorate given these casualties of war? Simply stated, there’s a fire in your belly and a sense that you just have to pursue the call. A wise colleague of mine once said to a prospective seminary student who was thinking about pursuing ordained ministry, “If... Continue Reading

What do you do when someone other than your spouse shows interest in you beyond the interest of platonic, Christian friendship? If someone is not treating you as a younger sister or a brother (1 Tim. 5:2), how can you think and act in a way that protects your marriage, the church, and the name... Continue Reading

Where can we be salt and light?  So given that homosexual marriage is here to stay—now what? How do we talk about these things in a way so as not to become a stumbling block? What are the critical political issues? How do we engage with both those who hold strongly to a homosexual political position and... Continue Reading