Wayne Grudem has now pulled his support from Trump, as reported by Sarah Pulliam Bailey: Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem was one of Donald Trump’s most surprising endorsers earlier this year, saying that the Republican presidential nominee was “a morally good choice.” Grudem’s endorsement set off a wave of controversy among evangelicals, who have been deeply divided over this election. Some evangelical leaders who support Trump said they continue to back him, many of them denouncing his comments about women but saying they still see him... Read more

As Bill Murray’s T-shirt says, “Ain’t afraid of no goat!” Speaking of the curse of the Billy Goat, how about the undoing of Steve Bartman? CHICAGO — As Travis Wood stepped to the plate, Cubs bullpen catcher Chad Noble said, “He’s gonna hit a home run.” This was silly. Wood is a relief pitcher. His last extra-base hit came in 2014, and the last time a reliever hit a postseason home run was 1924. But this is a time of... Read more

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more

After these vile revelations of Donald Trump’s justification — gloating about it — of his groping of women it is time for every evangelical leader — from James Dobson and Wayne Grudem and Jerry Fallwell, Jr., and Ralph Reed and James Macdonald and on — to declare their disgust for Donald Trump’s character, behaviors, and language. There is no other evangelical option. All that is left is to say “I will vote for a Republican, regardless of his or her character.”... Read more

The best of historians knows the data and facts, but wears them lightly unless heavy lifting is in order, knows the history of scholarship on the discipline, and can write up his or her results in the kind of prose that sparkles with suspenseful ordering. One such historian is the Reformation historian Diarmaid MacCulloch (see bottom for details), and his newest book, All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy, exhibits MacCulloch’s skills profusely. He is a historian’s historian in... Read more

Syler Thomas, is this THE year or not? And baseball is funny. People don’t want to admit it, but there’s a fair amount of luck in baseball. It truly is a game of inches, and sometimes inches separate success from failure. Which brings us back to this year. Once again, the refrain is thrown about. “This is our year! We have the best team so it’s gonna happen!” Well here’s the deal, folks. You know how we’ll know it’s our... Read more

By John Frye Having considered the temptations of plagiarism and prayerlessness in the preaching task, let’s explore last minute, hectic-paced sermon preparation. In the law enforcement and gun control world there is a phrase “Saturday night special.” The phrase describes small, compact cheaply made handguns that flood the gun market. While there is no statistical evidence between the low price of handguns and higher crime, Saturday night specials are readily, quickly, and cheaply available after gun shops are closed for... Read more

Ashley May: More parents work outside the home now than ever, but they are still spending more time with their children than the generations before them, according to a recent study. Yeah, it seems like Mom and Dad really can do it all. Researchers at the University of California, Irvinefound between 1965 and 2012, all but one of 11 Western nations showed an increase in the amount of time both parents spent with their children. The exception was France. The subject... Read more

I wrote a post last Tuesday None and Fine With It that looked at recent results reported from the Religious Landscape Survey of US beliefs and trends.  This post received extensive comment, much of it from people who are not Christians and gave their views why “none” was a preferred choice. Many of these comments shed light on issues that we, as Christians, need to address, My post on Thursday, Cultivate Humility, focused on the topic of intellectual humility –... Read more