Just had the opportunity to tackle a fun assignment for Christianity Today: profile several of the most prolific gospel rap artists. Cat, meet catnip. CT just published the piece, which is a sidebar to Russ Moore’s cover story on the Christian hip hop movement (presently behind the paywall). My shorter piece covers Lecrae, Trip Lee (photo), [...]
The Light and Darkness of Michael Jordan
February 16, 2013 By
Wright Thompson just published a powerful long-form profile of Michael Jordan at 50. It’s got some rough language, but it’s a penetrating character study of one of the most interesting men of our time (HT: Vitamin Z) The piece shows two major things to me: first, how Michael Jordan so beautifully displayed the image of [...]
Linsanity Wanes: Why Are Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony Struggling?
March 10, 2012 By 11 Comments
Howard Wolfson of CBS Sports breaks down the recent struggles of the New York Knicks, led by Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony. Here’s a snatch: The idea that gets pushed around is that he’s selfish, which is hyper-simplistic and off-base. Anthony is not out there lustily chasing after field-goal attempts. He wants to win, but [...]
LeBronadox
June 10, 2011 By 7 Comments
LeBron James is a paradox. Hence, LeBronadox. Bill Simmons had some interesting things to say about the uber-talented Miami Heat forward. Sometimes Simmons’s material gets salty, so read him with discretion. This section outlines the Grantland.com’s founder’s thoughts: Here’s my opinion in four parts: a. I think he’s one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. I will [...]
David Brooks on Kanye West, Michael Jordan, and Cultural Narcissism
September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In a noteworthy piece in the NYT called “High-Five Nation,” David Brooks highlights how today’s climate of cultural narcissism differs from America of the past. (Photo of Kanye West: SunBlog) Having recently heard an old radio broadcast from the end of World War 2, he reflects on the general tone of that era: You also [...]
The Link 9.11.09: Phoenix Rap, The Admiral’s Faith, and Remembering 9/11
September 11, 2009 By 1 Comment
1. I hadn’t heard much Phoenix rap before this week, but now I have. And now you can too. Check out iSix5, a Christian rap out of Phoenix. A buddy here at TEDS hipped me to them and I liked their stuff. Straight gospel, good writing, strong beats. Also, they submit to the leadership of [...]
Michael Jordan’s Teacher: “Nobody Cut Michael Jordan”
September 10, 2009 By 3 Comments
Those of us who grew up going to wildly overpriced basketball camps (remember Five Star? What a racket!) often heard the inspiring and–ahem–comforting tale that Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player in the world, was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore. Great story–except it’s not technically true. This is disheartening news for those [...]
Dude, You’re Not Mark Driscoll, and Other Ways to Find a Pastoral Identity
March 16, 2009 By 11 Comments
9Marks just released its new eJournal on helping young pastors. I highly commend it to you–it looks very, very helpful. I had a thought on this topic. It strikes me that young pastors, which I hope will one day include me, need to emulate our leaders and heroes, but only to a point. We need [...]
Real Life Sanctification: The Century-Old Dilemma of Guys and Sports
April 24, 2008 By 1 Comment
As I said a few days ago, I think that when we’re talking about sanctification, the progressive growth in grace of the Christian, we need to start with the deeper, higher truths and then carefully but energetically proceed to the workings of everyday life. After all, it is in the cracks of life, the details, [...]
Follow Patheos
Evangelical: