Several years ago, an 80 something year old man walked into one of our classrooms. We often have older "students" sit in on our classes, members of various churches who want to continue growing in their knowledge of the Bible and the world. But it quickly became clear that...
Take a brief look at Church History and you'll realize that the Church is kind of an icky place. Or at least, it often has been. I love my church, and you probably love yours too. But historically speaking, the church has a tendency to be really really messed...
This morning I dropped my firstborn off for her first day of school. Maybe that doesn't sound impressive. But listen: this precious little girl, whom I have been holding since she was 7 pounds 9 ounces 19 and ¾ inches, whose food I have shoveled and airplaned into her...
Anthony Doerr's novel All the Light We Cannot See is one of those rare books that is actually difficult to put down. While most books that fit this category are white-knuckle thrillers that keep us reading because we need to know what happens next, All the Light We Cannot...
The title of this post is probably enough. We all know what it's like to somehow feel better or consoled or validated or inspired after listening to a piece of music—as if by magic. And magic is not the worst term for it: much of music's power comes from...
I have written several posts in defense of social media (for example, here, here, and here). My basic argument has been that social media is a series of platforms that are not inherently harmful. I have expressed concern over the way that many people use social media—replacing true friendship with...
Christians talk a lot about being “filled with the Spirit,” but what does that actually mean? And how is it accomplished?
Paul’s command to “be filled with the Spirit” in Ephesians 5:18 is intriguing. The form of the verb “filled” that Paul uses is what’s called a present passive imperative....
I can remember looking forward to the day when I would have kids with whom I could have theological conversations. Not that this was the reason I wanted kids, I just thought it would be exciting to teach my heirs some amazing theology.
My daughters are now three and five...
In the midst of busy seasons of life, the weight of everything I've committed to and everything that has been placed in my lap often becomes overwhelming. I run out of hours in the day, I've done without sleep a few (or a thousand) times too many, and my...
Social media is a huge blessing. I have not been shy about praising social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest and also smartphones themselves, which are our primary portal to social media. Many aspects of social media provide us with the opportunity to be better friends, better citizens, better humans.
And...