On the way to the airport, I realized that driving with Lewis and Hope made me the loud kid. They like to think, reflect, and use their inside the head voice. Like some Tour Guide Ken, I feel compelled to keep talking, because that is what I do. Until I realize how very, very annoying this is. A good thing about being married is that you learn that many skills can turn into vices if overused. The reasonable man can... Read more
All my children will be legal adults by the start of next month. This is not sad to me, because, for good or bad, I have been there for every year of their lives. The law is just now recognizing what has been true for a good while: there are not “kids” left to sit at the “kids’ table” this Thanksgiving. Three out of the four can toast the feast legally! To know who you are, part of which is... Read more
Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East. Black churches are being burned down in America. North Korea and China impose party atheism on the believers in both lands. When the Islamic State comes with swords, nobody asks the name of your pastor. If Jesus is Lord, you are going to die. That is persecution and nothing unites a movement faster. As Christians look at the world, we are realizing that while we are from many nations, tribes, and people... Read more
My Daddy taught me that having the right enemies is a good thing. If Vlad Putin would just repudiate me, then my Orthodox soul would rejoice, but sadly I have yet to achieve the importance and probably never will. Donald Trump has no such problem. Our irritating, chattering, Democratic elite hate Donald Trump. Our impotent, smarmy, sycophantic Republican elite hate Donald Trump. In fact, most Americans dislike Donald Trump with a passion reserved only for Vlad Putin. Since all have sinned,... Read more
Gym slogans are prose written by devils to tempt me to cynicism. These are the falsehoods like: “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” I am pretty sure this is false as yellow fever did not kill Teddy Roosevelt, but it left him permanently weaker and who am I to argue with the Bull Moose? Perhaps my least favorite is being urged to “Do What Matters.” I am pretty sure that nothing I do matters in the sense they mean.... Read more
This post is part of a feature from Patheos called Head to Head. This week, I’m debating the Catholic Channel’s Dr. Gregory Popcak. The question: is a deity necessary for morality? This week’s question was inspired by Patheos Atheist writer Peter Mosley’s story on Theism’s Morality Glitch. I stood in Vegas and millions of dollars worth of advertising tried to lure me to gamble foolishly. “Gaming” itself may not be a vice, but it comes very close to quite a... Read more
When I was a boy, the temptation to join the theological left was based on intellectualism. Fundamentalism was accused of appeals to “Mother’s prayers are following you” and a heart religion that viewed thinking with disdain. There was some truth to this accusation, though the theologians who wrote in The Fundamentals were not mentally lazy even when they were not persuasive. Intellectuals read the New Testament in the Greek while the theological conservative was alleged to have read what they thought... Read more
Evangelicals love to be told how terrible they are. If you lash them, they will pay to hear the message. When Frank Schaeffer was young enough to go by Frankie, he was a fringe player on the religious right who made his mark (as we noticed it) by telling us we had bad taste in art. I watched him get a standing ovation and sell a boat load of books to my friends for telling them that they were artistic... Read more
Show me a Christian who does good only to do well in the things of this world and I will turn away in sorrow. Show me a Christian who heeds the words of Jesus and sells all she has and gives it to the poor and I will sit and ponder anew what the Almighty can do. I find hope in history because what has been can be again. History shows that even the most privileged can lay down their... Read more
Wise mentors gave me a lesson about leading that has stood up very well: If you have power, do not test it unless you must. When a leader must use power, he has failed somehow and will have less power in victory than he had before he won. This is a general truth and I am sure there are historic exceptions, but it has worked well for me. The proverb comes associated with a deeper truth: I will do for... Read more
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