Last spring I had the privilege of speaking at a conference for NFL players put on by Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO), a group which exists to unite a community of pro athletes and couples to grow as disciples of Jesus and positively impact their spheres of influence. They have a fantastic outreach to professional football and baseball athletes and their wives. I’ve seen firsthand the amazing difference they’re making. In the off-season I exchanged emails and texts with dozens of NFL players and cha..Continue reading→
Home
Thoughts
Motherhood Is a Marathon
I wanted to do great things for God. In the spring of my senior year of college, on the brink of embarking upon my own journey into adulthood, my future was undecided and that was simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. As a philosophy major, my path was narrower than I had realized, but I was sure it would take me on some grand and glorious adventure. I knew the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. “Glorify” sounds like such a grand term. It evokes images of battlefie..Continue reading→
1 Peter 5:7–8: How Not to Battle Anxiety
Anxieties attack our faith and torment our peace. The question with anxiety is not whether it will come, but rather, how can I fight it when it does? Watch NowContinue reading→
Is Love of Money Really the Root of All Evils?
Is the love of money the “root of all evils” or only the “root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10)? “All evils” is the formal English equivalent of the original Greek (pantōn tōn kakōn). It is remarkable that all older versions of the Bible translate 1 Timothy 6:10 in the more literal way: “The love of money is the root of all evils” (or all evil). This includes the Wycliffe Bible, Luther Bibel, Geneva Bible, King James Version, Douay-Rheims, Darby Bible, and Revised Standard Version. Bu..Continue reading→
Hot Topics
Military’s Highest Court Denies Marine’s Religious Liberty Claim
In the majority opinion, the judges noted that because Sterling did not indicate until during her trial that the signs had any religious significance to her, the words on the signs could have been interpreted as being “combative in tone.” They concluded the order to remove the signs was valid and did not place a “substantial burden” on her exercise of religion. But in a dissenting opinion, Judge Kevin A. Ohlson argued that, in its decision, the CAAF went far beyond what was necessary to decide S..Continue reading→
This Republican Mayor Has An Incredibly Simple Idea To Help The Homeless. And It Seems To Be Working
In partnership with a local nonprofit that serves the homeless population, a van is dispatched around the city to pick up panhandlers who are interested in working. The job pays $9 an hour, which is above minimum wage, and provides a lunch. At the end of the shift, the participants are offered overnight shelter as needed. Republican Mayor Richard Berry was driving around Albuquerque last year when he saw a man on a street corner holding a sign that read: “Want a Job. Anything Helps.” Throughou..Continue reading→
How Much Should a Christian Olympian Give Up for Gold?
Three-time gold medalist Josh Davis and Rio correspondent Tim Ellsworth on picking between evangelism and family, the athlete’s faith community, and what the Games have in common with missions trips. Did you see the Americans’ sweep the hurdles last night? Do you go to bed at night still thinking about Katie Ledecky breaking her own world records? Do you have dozens of hours of unwatched pool play handball games on your DVR? We have a podcast for you. Two-time Olympian Josh Davis—who swam wit..Continue reading→
Whose Hate? Which Victims?
“So what do victim impact statements and the concept of hate crime have in common? They both point to an evaluation of the moral significance of criminal acts, and of victimhood, that prioritizes the psychological and the subjective.” One of the great problems in today’s world is that hate is rather limited in scope. For society to flourish, we really need more hate—or at least a broader understanding of what hate is. Confused? Well, bear with me a moment while I explain. Last week The Spectat..Continue reading→
Life & Society
Do You Live Like Your Story Matters?
Because of our natural human fixation on “the seen,” we tend to think only of the impact of our story in this brief season of our existence: the here and now. Although that impact is not unimportant, as immortal beings we should be far more concerned with how our story will sound when it is told there and then, in that next season of existence that will extend through all eternity. Unfortunately, for many Christians, the goal is simply to get across the finish line after surviving this earthly ..Continue reading→
Preschooler Made to Care about LGBT Agenda in Colorado
According to The Denver Post, a 4-year-old Aurora, Colorado girl was “kicked out” of a preschool last month when her parents raised questions about books read in her class, including ones that told stories about same-sex couples and worms unsure about their gender. The girl returned home from school one day concerned that her daddy might not like girls anymore–and her mommy is a girl. Montview Community Preschool & Kindergarten in Denver — run as a private, parent cooperative — used the stories ..Continue reading→
Disney Demands Georgia Let Go of Religious Freedom
We should have seen this coming. After all it was a Disney / Pixar film that captured the mantra of the secular Progressives: “We scare because we care.” Just as we describe in You Will Be Made to Care, Disney has joined the NFL and other compassionate bullies to try to shut down even stripped-down religious freedom protection in Georgia under the auspices of opposing discrimination. They are threatening to take their Marvel movie-making magic somewhere else if Georgia passes HB 757 to protect r..Continue reading→
Republican Convention Rules: It Takes a Majority
It takes a majority. It takes a majority of delegates to win the Republican nomination for President. It is not complicated. It is not new. These rules have been basically the same since the founding of the Party. A majority of the delegates to the convention must vote for a candidate if he or she is to become the Party’s nominee. Yet Trump and his fans are demanding the rules be changed to accommodate him. They are demanding that the Establishment (whatever that is anymore) rip up the rules and..Continue reading→
Movies
Mourn With Those Who Mourn
In memory of Clementa Carlos Pinckney (1973-2015), Democrat, South Carolina Senate; senior pastor of Mother Emanuel A.M.E. [African Methodist Episcopal] Church; martyred with eight of his congregation while they studied scriptures and prayed together in the church. You can read much more about Pastor Pinckney and his church here. It was one year ago this month that shots rang out on our campus at Seattle Pacific. And the community responded by gathering in grief, in support, in prayer, and, when the truth was learned, in grace and love toward the antagonist. I was blessed, and taught, by their response. Today, those of us on campus are gathering in SPU’s prayer chapel to pray for our grieving neighbors at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and for the troubled heart of the suspect in custody. Elsewhere — specifically, online, from angry responders (a wide range, including suit-and-tie white guys) — I’m already seeing waves of rage and hate directed at the shooter. I unde..Continue reading→
What Specialists Are Saying About Jurassic World
Gathering in a bunker deep underground where velociraptors cannot find them, the Looking Closer Specialists are talking about Jurassic World. The Specialists are a community of friends who are supporting my efforts on this blog. They have a private Facebook group, they get to see some of this blog’s posts before everybody else, they’re acknowledged in the Credits, and they are invited to participate in occasional posts like this one. (Sound like fun? Here’s how to join them.) Since I haven’t had a chance to see Jurassic World yet — there were other films far higher on my priority list this week — I asked them for their first impressions. Here’s what they’re saying… Joseph: It met my expectations, Jeffrey. But I suspect that says more about my expectations than it does about Trevorrow’s film. Heavy, heavy on the effects and action, light on story and the characterizations (and motivations) of its characters. A more successful return to the franchise than either The Lost World or Jurassi..Continue reading→
Torres and the Influence of David Bazan and Terrence Malick
It’s June again: The end of another academic year. We’ve come to Graduation Weekend, and I’m driving to a special ceremony, where this year’s crop of honors society students — the Seattle Pacific University Scholars (or “UScholars”) — will gather with families and friends to celebrate their achievement. And on the way, my car doors are pulsing to the beats of an album that has its hooks in me: Sprinter by Torres. These songs keep playing in my head long after I’ve had parked the car on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill and descended into the sunny campus. Everywhere I look the lawns are alive with faculty in full regalia and seniors draped in graduation gowns and stoles, capped with tasseled mortarboards. I hurry through the crowd to the lobby of Otto Miller Hall, where UScholar seniors have set up informative honors project displays. There each student explains to visitors what they’ve been learning in these last days before their launch into the great unknown. Despite the celebratory mood, I..Continue reading→
Bracing for Jurassic World: My Personal History with the Raptors
Just like every other moviegoer on the planet, I had a blast attending the theatrical opening of Jurassic Park in 1993. I remember laughing for joy at the blissful terror of the T-Rex’s entrance, and laughing even harder when I saw my friends Eric and Matt crawling under their seats. But I was having fun in spite of the movie’s screenplay, which felt cheap and sentimental even for Spielberg at the time. I thought then — and I still think — that it’s B-grade Spielberg. This weekend, I went digging for any writing I might have done back then, and could only dug up this old paragraph: One cannot help but assume the reason the characters in the film are so scared is because they’re so poorly developed. Spielberg was so excited about directing the dinosaurs that he forgot to check the quality of the script. This is not such a bad thing, really. The corny dialogue and aspirations to social and environmental relevance seem to suit this old-fashioned thrill-fest. Who comes to this movie to be ..Continue reading→
A New Conversation with Pete Horner, Sound Designer for Jurassic World
My friend Pete Horner was the sound designer/sound mixer for Jurassic World… not to mention his extraordinary back catalog of work, like the Redux version of Apocalypse Now. He won an Emmy for his work on Hemingway and Gellhorn. Here he is, interviewed for Filmback, talking about the art of sound design. Well worth listening to. And here’s a shout-out to my friend Claire Tanner, who is a producer and the co-host of Filmback. Great work, Cory Titus and Claire Tanner! Check this out. And if you like that, you’ll like the bonus round, when he tells a story about my favorite band: Over the Rhine. Image published my two-part interview with Horner a while back: Part One, Part Two.Continue reading→
Halfway Through 2015: What’s Your Favorite Music So Far?
So far, 2015 has been an impressive non-stop parade of great albums. I could easily turn in a Top 10 of the year today if I was asked. But we’re only halfway there. Dr. Jeff Keuss of Seattle Pacific University hosted this live podcast discussion of some of 2015’s most exciting music. We listened to stuff by Kendrick Lamar, Kacey Musgraves, Ibeyi, Sleater-Kinney, and much more, and talked it over. Then, we answered some great questions from diners in our live audience. Panel guests included Anthony Barr-Jeffrey, Anna Miller, and myself. Maybe you missed the live event, but you can listen now to the podcast. Tune in for The Kindlings Muse here. What are the most impressive records you’ve heard in 2015 so far? What albums have you played the most?Continue reading→
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Charlize Theron-the-Road-Again [This review has already been read by the Looking Closer Specialists, whose helpful responses persuaded me to see the movie a second time before publishing it. Thanks, Specialists! Read about how you can join the club that gets first-looks and access to a private Looking Closer Facebook group here.] I am looking at the back of a man who stands on a sandy precipice beside his souped up sports car, and I have just enough time to think three things: 1) Wow, the colors of this post-apocalyptic desert wasteland are so saturated that they make Luke Skywalker’s homeland look positively grayscaled by comparison! 2) Is this guy just scanning the horizon, out beyond the dunes? Or he is preparing to urinate over the edge? And then, 3) I wonder how long this goes before we hit the first chase scene and we see Max — BOOM! We’re off! He’s jumping in his car! And the first mad, mad, mad chase scene of Mad Max: Fury Road is underway! And if you’re not excited about tha..Continue reading→
MCFARLAND USA: An Interview with Legendary Coach Jim White
Do you like sports movies? I cry every time I watch Field of Dreams. The rousing underdog stories of Rudy or The Rookie almost feel too good to be true. The cynic in us may resist, but once you actually meet Jimmy, the guy who sank the winning shot in Hoosiers, your perspective shifts. These aren’t just tall tales, manufactured by Hollywood. These can be modest, “everyday” heroes who challenge us to practice, to press on, to never give up. I recently met Jim White, the legendary cross-country c..Continue reading→
OSCARS 2015: BOYHOOD, BIRDMAN OR BUDAPEST FOR BEST PICTURE?
The 2015 Oscar race has become one of the tightest and most unpredictable contests in years. Three well-crafted films emerged over awards season as the key contenders for the 2015 Academy Award for Best Picture: Boyhood, Birdman, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. While Selma and Interstellar combined epic scale and meticulous craft, the Academy and the guilds obsessed over a few peccadilloes that kept them out of serious Oscar contention. (Only time will honor these two towering cinematic achievemen..Continue reading→
Music
Trust You All The Way by About A Mile
Since launching 2014's biggest-selling Christian album debut from a new artist, Dove Award-nominated About A Mile is taking all the experiences over the last couple years and pouring them into its sophomore album, Trust You All The Way, to be released from Radiate Music Oct. 28. More than the successes of playing Christian music's biggest stage (Winter Jam) and a bevy of supporters that have fully-funded its PledgeMusic campaign, band members and brothers Adam, Luke and Levi Klutinoty have resolved to trust God with every aspect of their lives and ministry. Pouring that conviction into their upcoming album, which was produced[...]Continue reading→
Flammable Kingdoms (Matthew Parker Remix) – Single by MHEternal
Hot on the heels of Matthew Parker's critically acclaimed release, Adventure, the producer and electronic pop artist has reimagined MH Eternal's deceptively deep yet infectiously catchy single, "Flammable Kingdoms," from 2015's 'Songs For Tomorrow' EP.[...]Continue reading→
Ghost Ship by Theocracy
After finally gaining some momentum with As The World Bleeds, Theocracy is ready to blast into the mainstream with their newest release.[...]Continue reading→
VERIDIA Debuts Music Video for Still Breathing
As they kicked off their month-long tour with Evanesence this past weekend from Dallas, alt-rock band VERIDIA has also just debuted their latest music video for their current radio single "Still Breathing." Uniquely filmed in a haunted house located in Nashville, the video was directed by Matt DeLisi, the director behind the band's previous video, "Pretty Lies." Written by Veridia's front woman Deena Jakoub, the song "Still Breathing" shares the important message of dealing with fear..Continue reading→
Zach Williams’ ‘Chain Breaker’ Music Video Explodes; Single Stays No. 1 For 3rd Week
For the third week in a row at radio, "Chain Breaker," the debut single from Essential Records' artist Zach Williams, continues to hold the No. 1 spot of the Christian AC Indicator chart. The song has climbed into top 5 on the Christian Airplay chart and has also been the top-selling single on the iTunes Christian Songs chart for the past few weeks. "Chain Breaker" is also No. 15 on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart, joining such artists as twenty one pilots, Coldplay, Kings Of Leon and..Continue reading→
Sidewalk Prophets Announces Second Leg of ‘The Prodigal Tour’
Sidewalk Prophets will be taking their hit music, energetic live performance, and thought-provoking creativity on the road this winter and spring as they announce the 2017 leg of "The Prodigal Tour." The tour is in partnership with The Mocha Club, a non-profit that the band has passionately supported since visiting the Democratic Republic Of The Congo in 2011 and seeing the organization's work first-hand in caring for needs of the area.Continue reading→
Cana’s Voice Delivers Standing Ovation Performances with Dr. David Jeremiah’s ‘Stand Up Tour’
Cana's Voice continues to impact audiences with performances and songs from their debut album, This Changes Everything. Recently, the trio traveled to Washington, DC for an appearance at the Verizon Center with Dr. David Jeremiah's Stand Up Tour. The overall message for the evening was to honor God and our country, through a deeper relationship and commitment in our faith with Christ. The program featured labelmate, Charles Billingsley, and the LU Praise choir and band from Liberty Uni..Continue reading→
Joel Vaughn Releases New Song
Pop artist Joel Vaughn has released his new single, "As You Are" which will be a part of a new album coming out on January 27th, 2017. Joel Vaughn debuted his DREAM Records release, Kinetic which has quickly gained new fans for his upbeat, pop melodies. The debut single, "Wide Awake" track debuted at #15 on the Billboard Hot AC CHR chart and was the featured song on Tennis Trick Shots ft. Serena Williams Dude Perfect that received 13 Million views on YouTube. The Nashville-based artist will feat..Continue reading→
About A Mile Releases ‘Trust You All The Way’
About A Mile's full-length sophomore album, Trust You All The Way, releases globally tomorrow (Oct. 28) from Radiate Music and is available for preorder now at iTunes and Amazon.com. Along with the preorder from iTunes are immediate downloads of the new single and title track, the hard-driving "Taking Back" (the video of this song has been seen on AXS TV, YouToo America Garage Band, ClubCom, California Music Channel, Video Hits and many more outlets internationally) and the pop flavored Top..Continue reading→
American
Planned Parenthood Abortion Doc is 7 Months Pregnant, But Kills Babies Up to 24 Weeks in Abortions
This article is a follow-up to “Planned Parenthood Kills 323,999 Babies in Abortions, Provides Only 17,419 Moms Prenatal Care.” Another video features Dr. Sierra Washington, identified as a “pregnant provider” in her seventh month, who says that “I love taking care of patients. I mean that’s why I’m a doctor.” At Planned Parenthood’s Pacific Southwest affiliate (PPPSW) “taking care of patients” includes abortion, contraceptives, and hysterectomies, but not birthing or prenatal care. With clini..
Oregon Assisted Suicide Deaths Hit Record High in 2016 as Abuses Continue
The 2016 Oregon annual assisted suicide report is similar to prior years. The report implies that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered), but the information in the report does not address that subject. According to the 2016 Oregon assisted suicide report. There were 133 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2016. There were 204 lethal prescriptions obtained in 2016. There were 8 deaths from “other illnesses” which included illnesses such as diabetes, hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease..
Planned Parenthood Celebrates Jocelyn Elders, Who Claimed Pro-Lifers Have a “Love Affair With the Fetus”
Planned Parenthood celebrated former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders last week to mark both Black History Month and “Condom Week.” Elders, a controversial figure under President Bill Clinton, was forced to resign after she made several comments about sex education and pro-lifers that sparked outrage. On Thursday, Planned Parenthood wrote on Twitter, “We salute Joycelyn Elders: 1st black US Surgeon General and all-around badass sex education advocate. #tbt #BlackHistoryMonth #CondomWeek” W..
Norway Will Spend $10 Million for Abortions After Trump Defunds International Planned Parenthood
Norwegian government leaders promised to give $10 million to a new global abortion fund this week after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding to groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. Reuters reports Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg said her country will dedicate 85 million crowns ($10 million) to support abortions world-wide. “At a time when this agenda has come under pressure, a joint effort is particularly important,” she said ..
Australia
Now outback kids can learn about Jesus, too
Remote schools across western NSW are being approached about the possibility of introducing Special Religious Education (SRE) classes by distance education. Generate Ministries – an employer of SRE teachers in NSW – is teaming up with Bush Church Aid to offer scripture lessons in schools where they are currently not offered. Currently only 60-70 per cent of NSW school students have access to SRE lessons, which “leaves open a massive deficit of..
Have Aussie dollars ended up in terrorists’ hands?
A manager of the World Vision office in Gaza has been charged with using millions of dollars of charity funds to support Hamas fighters in the region. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a statement that says, “World Vision has received Australian funds for programs in the Palestinian Territories.” Mohammad El Halabi was arrested on 15 June, as he returned home from routine meetings. After being kept in Israeli state detenti..
Olympian Eloise Wellings received Christ, never looked back
At 33 years old, Eloise Wellings is about to compete in her second Olympics in Rio as a middle-distance runner. But she has had a long road to the Games, including three thwarted attempts to represent Australia at the Olympic Games. Wellings was just 16 years old when she first qualified for the Sydney Olympics, but her Olympic dream was cut short when she suffered a stress fracture to her hip just three weeks after qualifying. “I was dev..
A day in the life of a hospital chaplain
We spend a day on the wards with Rev Stuart Adamson, one of ten accredited chaplains of different faiths and denominations at Prince of Wales and Randwick Hospitals Campus in Sydney. He is one of three Anglican chaplains and has a twin role as a chaplain and a trainer of chaplains at Anglicare. I’m usually up before my alarm. But I am on after hours on-call at the moment and when the alarm goes off at 6.45am I feel pinned to the bed. The call-out la..
Law & Government
Judge Refuses to Halt California’s Assisted Suicide Law
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Superior Court judge in California has refused to halt the state’s assisted suicide law amid a legal challenge from several local doctors and a Christian organization that represents physicians nationwide. As previously reported, last October, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the End of Life Option Act, which allowed terminally ill residents to seek help to end their lives. “I have carefully read the thoughtful opposition materials presented by a number of doct..
Arkansas Commission to Review Proposals to Place Ten Commandments, Homage to Satan at Capitol
Photo Credit: Stuart SeegerLITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A state commission in Arkansas has scheduled a date to review separate proposals to place a Ten Commandments monument and an homage to Satan on the grounds of the state capitol building. Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin has marked Sept. 13 as the beginning of discussions with the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission on whether or not to allow the placement of the monuments. As previously reported, last year, Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, had..
School District Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Declare Dept. of Education Lacks Right to Dictate Restroom Rules
WASHINGTON — A school district in Virginia filed an official petition for appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, requesting that it declare that the U.S. Department of Education lacks authority to dictate that public schools must allow those who identify as transgender to use the restroom with the opposite sex. “The term ‘gender identity’ is nowhere in Title IX,” the writ of certiorari reads. “If ‘sex’ signifies, not biology, but rather one’s ‘internal’ sense of maleness or femaleness, t..
France’s top court to rule on legality of burkini ban
A burkini is a swimsuit that only leaves the face, hands and feet exposed. The row over France's controversial ban on women wearing burkinis has escalated with the country's top court to rule on whether the law contravenes human rights. The Council of State, a body that acts as both legal adviser to the government and as the supreme administrative court, will examine the issue on Thursday after photos emerged of a Muslim woman removing a long-sleeved top while surrounded by ar..
Entertainment
‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ for all its heroism and love, remains a paradox
I had a dream about Mel Gibson recently. His face was very close to mine and his beard was gone. He looked very serious. I congratulated him on his new film “Hacksaw Ridge,” his first in 10 years. But he held up a print out of one of my reviews from his 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ.” “But you didn’t review this one very well,” he said. I started to explain my issue wi..
Did The Walking Dead Go Too Far? A Watching God Podcast
Comment countMore than 20 million people watched last Sunday’s Season Seven premiere of The Walking Dead. No surprise there, given that AMC’s zombie show has been a ratings winner ever since its inception. The episode was brutal, with new Big Bad Negan killing two popular characters with his barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat Lucille. No surprise there either, according to longtime fans. The Walking Dead has always been incredibly bloody. But for me, the episode was incredibly hard to watch. It fe..
‘Years of Living Dangerously’ Season 2 premiere Oct 30 NatGeo
Season 2 opens with David Letterman and Cecily Strong raining the bell on climate change On Sunday night, October 30, “Years of Living Dangerously” begins its second season and it’s message is loaded with doom, frustration and tinged with hope if only Big Corporations + government will get out of the way. David Letterman (and his beard) are in India, a country with almost 400 million people, the population of the USA, who live without electricity. All efforts to upgrade the decrepit grid or are ..
Before the Flood – Di Caprio & NatGeo unite on climate change
The Pope and Leonardo DiCaprio (Photo: L’Osservatore Romano) You may recall when Oscar-winning actor Leonardo di Caprio, an ardent environmentalist, met with Pope Francis in January. The Pope gave Leonardo bound copies of his two encyclicals and Leonardo presented him with a book of the art of the 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. It includes the triptych of “The Garden of Delights” with the Garden of Eden on one side, the end of the world, or Last Judgment on the other, and bodies in..
Health and Science
Scientists Who Set Out to Create Simple Genome Astonished by Sheer Complexity of Life
Describing their findings as “humbling,” researchers who set out to create a “minimal genome” have concluded that the basic elements of life are enormously complex and remain full of unsolved mysteries. In an article titled “Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome,” a team of more than 20 scientists share the results of years of research on cellular genomes. The scientists, in an attempt to better understand the basic requirement for life, took a bacterial genome and stripped it down..
US
Discovering a different way of doing youth ministry
Most youth ministries are shallow at best, and youth worship is even worse. An evangelical worship leader lamenting those conclusions happened upon some YouTube videos from the Lutheran youth ministry Higher Things. Read the whole post, linked after the jump, which includes videos of both the worship services he is decrying and the worship services from Higher Things conferences. Also read the comments, which record other amazed and appreciative reactions to Higher Things and their approach to y..
Nationalism joins Islam as reasons for Christian persecution
Open Door, an organization that monitors Christian persecution, has released its annual report for 2016, which it calls “the worst year yet” for violence against Christians. The biggest part of the persecution is still committed in the name of Islam. No longer just a matter of the Middle East, Islamic persecution has risen dramatically in Africa. As nationalism re-emerges worldwide, ethnic nationalism has become an excuse to persecute Christians. This is happening especially in Asia, including I..
Fear of the working class
The editor of a liberal website has written about a plumber he had called to fix his drain. The plumber acted professionally and did the job. But he spoke with a Southern accent! He didn’t seem upset about the election! He might even have voted for Trump! The editor described his fear at having a possible Trump voter in his home. All this fear talk about Trump has me confused. I can see a generalized fear about the future of the country, but this is far more visceral. Gay people say how afraid t..
Obama commutes Pvt. Manning’s sentence for leaking military secrets
In one of his last official acts, President Obama used his Constitutional power to grant pardons to commute the sentence of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who leaked thousands of military and diplomatic secrets during the Iraq War. Manning, who has served 7 years of a 35 year sentence at the military prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, now goes by the name of “Chelsea” and has been seeking government-funded gender-reassignment surgery. Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks who is holed up in the Ecuadoran emba..
Church & Theology
4 Ways Courageous Leaders Model Sustained Urgency
You can’t miss the urgency and passion with which Jesus carried out His ministry. Throughout His ministry, He spoke of musts, such as, “I must work the works of Him that sent me” (John 9:4). As spiritual leaders, we know there is urgency to our labor, but we don’t always maintain it. The truth is, urgency is not the default mode; complacency is. Strangely enough, it is our very successes in ministry that tend to feed complacency. It works like this: Success builds pride, and pride kills urgenc..
10 Diagnostic Questions to Assess Balance and Sustainability, part 1
We often speak of balance as if it is something you write out on paper and then have attained for life. The truth is, maintaining life balance takes constant adjustment. Like a sailor who is constantly analyzing the wind and adjusting his sails to reach an intended destination, balance for a spiritual leader requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and a willingness to make changes. Over the years, I’ve learned that, at times, the pace at which I do the work of God can hinder His work in me. But..
10 Diagnostic Questions to Assess Balance and Sustainability, part 2
In the previous post, we discussed the need to intentionally evaluate our balance and to make adjustments for sustainability along the way. (If you have not yet read that post, I’d encourage you to read it before reading this post.) Who do I fear? How is my tempo? How is my courage? How is my spiritual discipline? In this post, we continue with six more assessment questions. 5. Am I coming apart? We need to adjust the rhythm of our lives. We can’t constantly march to “Onward Christian Soldiers..
Answering Tough Texts of the Bible
As I’ve mentioned a few times (here and here), Trevin Wax and I host a podcast called Word Matters, which seeks to help Christians understand some of the most confusing passages of the Bible. We often discuss questions amongst ourselves, but we also like to ask guests to join us. If you’d like to check out, here’s a list of guests and topics so far: Michael Bird on Romans 7 and “the wretched man”Scot McKnight on Matthew 5 (oath-taking) and Matthew 7 (“I never knew you”)Rus..