The shocking scenes from the Capitol yesterday served as an implicit call to prayer. Rather than offer what would undoubtedly be imperfect words in a moment that requires precision, I will simply invite you to join in praying for the nation. Pray for healing and reconciliation. We know that true reconciliation cannot be found apart from Christ, so pray for revival to sweep the nation. Looking to humanism and mere kindness has not stemmed the…
The slogan above is not without controversy. (What slogan isn’t?) It is tinged with political overtones, much like the phrase “pro-life,” and therefore Christians may be hesitant to use it. I would like to explain why I think the church should be willing to say it. I will not use Scripture, not because the Bible doesn’t speak to this subject, but because I ran through many of the relevant passages in my previous post. Those…
Although I’m a tad late to the party (I only blog once a week), I think I should offer some words of response to the comments Senator Bernie Sanders made last week at the confirmation hearing of Russell Vought, an evangelical Christian. I think some response is in order because the views Sanders espouses have broad cultural appeal, even though they betray misunderstanding, illogic, and hypocrisy. It is very likely most evangelical Christians will have…
As I mentioned last week, we are currently living in a culture of division and hostility. Our desire to vilify our political opponents has led many to accept and promote #FakeNews and #AlternativeFacts. We are more wedded to our ideology than to reality, in other words; more committed to our narrative than to truth. This all feels fairly depressing, I admit. But the current backlash against #FakeNews and #AlternativeFacts also presents us with a…
#FakeNews. #AlternativeFacts. There seems to be a lot of buzz these days about the media we ingest and whether or not we can opt-out of reality. For Christians, that brings with it a tremendous opportunity, as I’ll try to explain in my next post. But it also carries with it a clear and present danger. Now, I feel a bit like Jude in wading into this topic. Like him, “although I was very eager…
Using an analogy drawn from the legal arena, Solomon writes, “In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines” (Proverbs 18:17, NIV). I suspect he does not intend to limit the application of his point to the courtroom, however. Whenever someone puts forth an argument, the audience will likely sway in their direction. Hearing one side of any debate will surely produce a single outcome. The first to speak…
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…
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!).…
One of the great problems with modern society is its insistence on our rights. Hardly a single major issue—moral, social, economic, political—does not center on the question of rights. The right to state-sponsored university education. The right to marry whom one pleases. The right to life—or its nemesis, the right to choose. The right to a minimum wage. The right to self-fulfillment. I have wondered recently if the world wouldn’t be a better place…
It was the stuff of literature, the dramatic juxtaposition of striking contrasts. I spent the morning at a ministry for children in one of the worst barrios in Bogotá. These children face horrors beyond what most of us would dare to dream exist in the world. All live in unimaginable squalor. They have little or no prospect for education or advancement. Many are the children of drug dealers and addicts. Others are the children…