Many, many of us worry that our culture has turned irreversibly to the dark side.  We fear there will never again be a day when moral sanity on marriage will return to a majority of Americans. In a recent op-ed sociologist Michael New argues we have reason to hope for better days. (more…) Read more

Friends, this is one of the most delightful stories you will read this month. It is the fascinating (and funny!) story of an Orthodox Jewish scholar who went scuba diving in Fiji, and ran into Seventh-Day Adventists who felt deeply connected to him. Here it is. Read more

This time the voice is that of one of the bravest women in the world.  She is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a native Somali who was a member of the Dutch Parliament, and now lives in the United States.  Her colleague and filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was assassinated in 2004 because he was exposing Islamist violence against innocents.  To his chest was pinned a five-page letter addressed to Hirsi Ali, threatening that she would be next.  (more…) Read more

Here is a startling find in a neighborhood outside Jerusalem: the discovery of an ancient mikveh under someone’s home. A mikveh is a purity bath of immersion that Jews used (and still use today) to cleanse them of religious impurity.  There were many of them on the southern steps of the Temple, which can be seen today.  Baruch Kvasnica and I have shown them to our tour groups.  Since it was a requirement to be immersed in one of these... Read more

Stella Morabito has written an article that is going viral, and for good reason. She explains why “marriage equality” is really not about either marriage or equality. It is not about marriage because there is nothing here that remotely resembles what marriage has been for millennia in every culture. It is not about equality because the door has now been opened to say it is unequal to privilege marriage (as in same-sex marriage) over singleness. So what is it really... Read more

David Brooks says we Christians should put aside the culture war over marriage.  We have lost, he says, and should realize it. Instead we should take our energies into neighborhoods to fight for “stable families” by selflessly rebuilding institutions and reaching out to the “lonely” and “stressed.”  We should help people connect to “transcendence” and fight for “right and wrong” in “barbaric” sexual environments. Ironic, isn’t it?  The very folks he calls us to help are those whose lives and... Read more

Most Americans think of Edwards as that dour preacher who was obsessed with God’s anger. Did you know he was really obsessed with God’s beauty?  Some of you already know that. But many of you don’t know that he also wrote voluminously about (human) love, society, and justice. (more…) Read more

Astute readers will notice that I have now added a tag above and to the right: CONTACT/COMMENTS. I welcome comments.  Some might get me to reflect more deeply or even change my mind.  From time to time, I will respond publicly at this blog on your comments. gerry Read more

These are dark days for orthodox believers and conservatives (the two groups intersect but are not the same).  But these are also days when we should be reminded of bright hopes. (more…) Read more

The Bible is extraordinarily complex. While the Reformers rightly insisted that its basic message of salvation could be understood by the simplest of sinners, they also believed that its preachers needed extensive training to be able to understand its many parts and profundities. They  knew that it is impossible to interpret the Bible rightly without having the right framework or lens through which to read it. The little stories could not be understood without knowing the Big Story into which... Read more