The fourth novel in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which hit bookstores in July, represents the largest first printing (3.8 million copies) of…
Discernment Exercise: Does Spirituality Mean Inner Peace?
If you have visited a Christian book store recently or browsed through a catalog from a religious publisher you will know that self-help and…
Discernment Exercise: Banned in Christian Schools
A Christian school recently decided to develop a series of guidelines to help teachers in their selection of literature to be used in the…
Discerment Exercise: Adam and Eve Rested, But Were They Ever Bored?
Boredom is so common now-a-days that most of us tend to assume it has always plagued the human race. At least since the Fall.…
Discernment Exercise: Christian horror films?
We take film seriously in these pages, and for good reason. For one thing, it is an art form of enormous power, beauty, nuance,…
Discernment Exercise: The Reach and Limits of Efficiency
I was at the Post Office this week to mail a package. I stood in line. The line snaked across the lobby and doubled…
Discernment Exercise: Pushing Beyond Comfort Zones
Last year a friend, Tim Giese, phoned with an invitation, though he worded it as a challenge. “You’re always talking about discerning culture,” he…
Discernment Exercise: Measuring Spirituality
Given the wide-spread interest in spirituality today, it probably isn’t surprising that a psychologist has proposed a way to gauge “spiritual intelligence.” Robert Emmons…
Discernment Exercise: Tsunamis and a Good God
On December 26, 2004, the massive tectonic plates under the Indian Ocean shifted, and the most powerful earthquake in 4 decades rumbled across the…
Discernment Exercise: Hiding Assets: Friend or Outlaw?
As I travel and speak, it isn’t surprising to me that some of what I say is challenged by some who hear me. It’s…