From Relevant: Here are 7 things every man should know about relationships: 1. Winning an argument may harm your relationship. 2. What you do for her is never more important than who you are to her. 3. A date isn’t a marriage proposal. 4. Digital communication should always be leading to face-to-face communication, not taking away from it. 5. Words can be everything. 6. Listening, not fixing, is often the best remedy to her problem. 7. You are worthy of... Read more

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more

From The Atlantic: OK, members of my family are totally into this; I have no interest whatsoever. For me, the worst part is someone cheering for a player on a team that is rival of one’s own team! Maybe my dilemma is that I might have to cheer for someone on the Packers or Vikings. How about you? Read more

How the West Really Lost God by Mary Eberstadt, Review by David Moore Several theories have been proposed as to the cause(s) of secularization.  Mary Eberstadt’s book, How the West Really Lost God, is an important new addition to the debate. From the outset it is critical to pick up on the spirit of Eberstadt’s book.  Her subtitle, A New Theory of Secularization, highlights her approach.  The author has a particular view and argues it with intelligence and conviction, but she... Read more

A father wears embarrassingly short shorts to get his daughter’s attention about her shorts. Kris heard a mom say she warned her daughter of what she was wearing by picking her up at school in front of everyone by wearing her hair rollers. Would you do this? A Utah dad got so fed up with his teen daughter’s too-short shorts that he taught her a fashion lesson she’ll never forget. Scott Mackintosh publicly modeled his own version of his daughter’s Daisy Dukes... Read more

Our weekly column, From the Shepherd’s Nook, is on Paul, pastors and discernment, by John Frye. In the last post we explored Jesus as the discernment artist. Let’s consider the Apostle Paul and the topic of discernment. I mentioned the unhealthy propensity of evangelical leaders to provide endless directions; to make things plain, practical and do-able. I’ve come to see that this is not always a beneficial service to the church. Mere directives do not provoke thought and, thus, short-circuit... Read more

Some find a suspect guilty of something in a Muslim and such persons are infected with Islamophobia, while those who find Christians suspect of covert political and religious corruption are infected with Christianophobia. There are those who, because of power and dominant culture and, let this be clear, connection to the USA, think whatever is said about Christianity is probably deserved, but such a posture is an ideology. I find the work of Rupert Shortt, Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack,... Read more

Kris and I were kindly invited to join Faith Presbyterian Church of Sacramento at the Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center. Once when I was speaking in Placerville on the other side of the lake and over the mountains toward Sacramento we had planned on a day trip to Tahoe but it snowed and the roads were closed and we spent the day in the villages in the hills. So this was  first time for us — and Lake Tahoe is magical.... Read more