The second in a three-part series on Christian education.[1] As I am a pastor by training and an educator by hobby, I am certain my reflections will be limited and misguided. I invite correction by those with greater wisdom and experience. Please comment below. Today we set out to answer a challenging question: Can a Christian school ever be as good educationally as a secular school? I would suggest two possible answers—both true, paradoxically.…
The first in a three-part series on Christian education.[1] As I am a pastor by training and an educator by hobby, I am certain my reflections will be limited and misguided. I invite correction by those with greater wisdom and experience. Please comment below. “Teachers, don’t you care if we drown . . . in a sea of humanism?” (cf. Mark 4:38). Much of modern education is self-avowedly steeped in liberal humanism. In…
I recently had the opportunity to speak on the power of speech (ironic, I know), and offered at that time a brief “theology of teasing.” I sought to defend the notion that teasing—poking fun, irony, even sarcasm in its less technical sense[1]—can serve a life-giving purpose within the Christian community. My comments were not received favorably by everyone. So I wish now to give a fuller defense of what I only hinted at earlier. …
Get down on your knees, fall on your face, and seek his will and wisdom, pleading for his grace. When the Spirit releases you, get up and go about your gospel-proclaiming, disciple-making business until he calls you to get down on your knees, fall on your face, and seek his will and wisdom, pleading for his grace. Repeat as necessary.
Most holidays suffer from insufferable commercialism and superficiality in these dark times. Occasionally Christians respond by retreating from the holiday as a whole. I wonder if this is really the best course of action, however, especially when young children are present; I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to redeem the holidays instead. While not addressing the issue directly, Scripture does hint at the latter response. After all, Jesus encountered the same crass commercialism…
I am probably a week too late to comment on The Komen Foundation’s decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and the subsequent reversal of this decision. And yet reflection so rarely happens in real time that it may be best to revisit the topic with the clearer sight distance affords. Many evangelicals rightly responded with joy when the decision came to cut support. Planned Parenthood has been at the forefront of abortion-rights activism since…
There exists a disturbing trend among Christians today to forsake the Word of God for a secular counterfeit. Now, I am not talking about paying more heed to pop psychologists, celebrities, and other ill-suited mentors than to expositing Scripture (though that may be true). I am speaking instead of our preference for faddish jargon rather than the eternal Word—seemingly innocuous, but devastatingly dangerous. A few examples may prove the point. Evangelicals often speak…
In honor of National Sanctity of Life Day, which was yesterday, here is a short poem I wrote depicting the horrors of abortion. I will warn you that this is not for the faint of heart. While not any worse than the story of Ehud and Eglon, if you would prefer not to read graphic language, I would suggest you pass on to the next post (while still supporting the sanctity of life, of course!).…
While discussing Wednesday’s post with a friend and colleague, he shared a story that demonstrates the need for cultural discernment—what I called “loving judgment”—among ministers of the gospel. My friend had spent the past few weeks speaking with a group of missionaries from a decidedly post-Christian nation. These missionaries were lamenting the state of the nation, giving as an example a recent church retreat at which half the attendees shacked up in cabins with…
At one point in his letter to Titus, Paul goes on a “rant” that, were he to utter it in today’s culture, would surely have gotten him dismissed from his apostolic post. He says to his young charge, “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” (1:12-13). These are strong…