I’ve written already about the need for the resurfacing of Puritan nomenclature in modern society. Yet it strikes me that we need a parallel return to the sermon titling system of the Puritans. Why? Well, frankly, many sermons are dull when compared to those of the past. Sermon titles in the Puritan ages were themselves works of art; today they are host to functionalism. Here are some titles from one of my favorite preachers, John Piper: “Racial Harmony and Interracial... Read more

This past weekend, I contemplated my current economical standing and found it: impoverished. This was no surprise. It’s actually kind of fun being poor right now, because it makes for a forced ascetism punctuated by bursts of materialism (witness: Oakley sunglasses). I’ll blog on poverty later, but it struck me as I contemplated my poverty that I possess a number of very nice possessions considering my economic station. For example, I have the aforementioned ridiculously expensive sunglasses, a PalmPilot, a... Read more

Had an interesting thought the other day. We’ve all heard much about how moderns have largely abandoned claims to absolute truth, to binding ideals, to a higher standard. It’s funny to think, then, that communism at its strongest form, its purest water, actually accords with Christianity in claiming its worldview as authoritative and true. In communism, particularly historic Marxism, certain principles are presupposed: the evil of the upper class, the falsity of God, the malleability of man’s nature. Communism, like... Read more

In a sometimes dizzying conversation on evolution a few days ago, I quickly realized two things: 1) I need to give a better defense of creation, and 2) The idea that evolution comprehensively explains life fails with clarity on the idea that it applies to morality. In other words, let’s say one concedes all of the evolutionist’s claims about the earth’s physical development and the evolution of human beings. One in no way needs to do this, but let’s say... Read more

A couple of days ago I came across a Swiss news story on the country’s first male “midwife.” The article documented the apprehensions of some of the staff and patients of the hospital, with the bulk of the concern centering in, shockingly, the fact that a man will midwife. For his part, the male attendant (I refuse to call him a midwife) sees himself as something of a trailblazer, a figure of courage and importance breaking down unnecessary barriers. He... Read more

I had a long conversation today with some sharp ex-students regarding theology, cosmology, and epistemology (the study of God, the earth, and knowledge, respectively). We started out talking about the foundations for Christian thought, a discussion quickly taken over by one young man’s suggestion that Christianity is merely one idea of many that for certain reasons has a disease-like quality to invade minds susceptible, for example, to fear of the idea of hell. In effect, he sees Christianity as setting... Read more

You might laugh at my portrayal of Twixters just blogged, but you ought not to do so, fair friend of the internet. You see, I went to school with the Twixter generation. Kids whose lives had been programmed from day one pressed through college until, like so many released doves, they flew from performance, blissful in the chaos of it all, without a clue or thought as to where they might land. I know classmates right now who are doing... Read more

Much has been made recently of the Twixters, the band of twenty- and early thirtysomethings who flit through life, shuttling between jobs, homes, and relationships, never settling down, never embracing adulthood. There is much good in the call that has gone up to the Twixter generation to leave the trappings of youth. I’ve noticed, though, that in the conversation, a crucial factor fueling the Twixter’s transience has often gone overlooked: the parents who helped shape the Twixters. Why are they... Read more

As reported in a recent edition of World magazine, the editorial board of the Kairos Journal, an excellent online resource for church leaders, recently wrote a precisely crafted letter to a number of prominent Christians who have endorsed a debt cancellation program for certain African nations. Best known among the recipients was megachurch pastor Rick Warren, who has wholeheartedly endorsed the cancellations as publicized piously by Bono, everyone’s favorite ballad-crooner-with-a-heart-of-gold. Amidst Warren’s endorsement and cultural acclaim of the idea, the... Read more

I just finished reading Michael Leahy’s fascinating When Nothing Else Matters, a two-year chronicle of basketball star Michael Jordan’s last two years of pro ball, spent in DC. I first heard about the book in my buddy Greg’s Yale Alumni Magazine, which highly commended it. Though I find little time these days to read about basketball, I had to indulge, and so I bought it from Barnes & Noble. I was off to a great start. Throughout my life, I’ve... Read more