A difficult task has recently become much, much harder. Every Christian knows that Jesus’ ‘Great Commission’ gave marching orders to his church to go…
Experimentation, Failure and Faith
When I was a boy I experimented with wood burning (an aunt gave me a set for my birthday), carpentry (I wanted to make…
When Creation Cries Out
Above me, in the boughs of a massive white pine a blue jay is objecting to my presence. He screams, flies off to do…
Imagination matters
Art / Maturity and Flourishing / Spirituality
One of the reasons I have sworn allegiance to Christ as king is that I believe the ancient prophets. Their words echo down the…
Slipping into politicization
One of the characteristics of 21st century American culture—part of what earlier generations called “the spirit of the age”—is the politicization of life. What…
Quietly Neglected Texts
Whenever I reread a beloved book I discover details I had not noticed before. A description that changes how I imagine a scene, or…
Faithfulness in a Consumerist Society
As Christians we should be grateful for every aspect of society that allows human beings to flourish. Each is evidence of the common grace…
Resilient Ministry (Burns, Chapman and Guthrie, 2013)
The Church Must Not Consume Its Own One of the most striking metaphors in all of Holy Scripture describes the sworn enemy of our…
The Solace of Asparagus
Creation / Family / Hospitality / Safe Place / Spirituality
[Note: “This article originally appeared on June 19, 2009 in Comment, a publication of CARDUS: www.cardus.ca.”] The first meal I prepared for the man…
The Sorrow and Hope of Homeschooling
Community / Family / Spirituality
I’ve been reading biographical sketches of Christian women who lived in the late Roman Empire. A theme the sketches have in common is rejection:…