To live in the modern Western world is to live where the public square is determinedly secularized. The players in the square in America,…
Babylon Series: Part 12 Getting to the Gospel
Discernment / Faith / The Skill
Since movies contain the stories of our culture, thoughtfully engaging them can prompt discussion about things that are otherwise almost impossible to raise in…
THE HINGE GENERATION: Millennials and the Future of the Evangelical Church
Some people and some generations stand out. Tom Brokaw celebrated those Americans who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World…
Confidence with Humility
Many of our neighbors are dubious about truth claims, and tend to react negatively to anyone claiming that their beliefs are absolutely true and…
“A Few Like You”: Will the Church be the Church for Homosexual Christians?
Culture / Faith / Hospitality / Spirituality
In 1947, the great English poet W. H. Auden wrote a letter to his friend Ursula Niebuhr in which he confessed: “I don’t think…
Trust In A Financial Crisis
When the recession began in 2008 and huge, fabled institutions were shown to be less secure than most people had believed, the word “trust”…
Resources for Understanding Scripture
Christian discernment is not the process of applying minds and imaginations to issues of life and culture. It is, rather, applying minds and imaginations…
Working in Difficult Places
One of my Christian friends works for a large media corporation. His company produces various radio programs, magazines and television shows, generally of a…
A Wedding Homily
Faith / Family / Ordinary Life
These words were spoken at the marriage of Madison & Pamela on August 8, 2009 in Durham, NC. Earlier this week I was speaking…
What makes you afraid?
What do you fear? Hardly a week goes by without some report identifying some threat in the food supply. Experts say that terrorist sleeper…