My boys are music nuts. Nicholas can rarely be seen in a church service without his drum sticks and Lewis is already showing a proclivity toward guitar. We listen to music constantly at home and in the car. It started me thinking about my musical upbringing. When I was growing up, I received a steady diet of Guy and Ralna, Evie, Amy Grant and the Oak Ridge Boys. Except for some John Denver and a little Paul Simon there just... Read more

This book is about living the justice life. I want to recommend that you read Justice in the Burbs all the way to the end. I almost didn’t. I almost put this book down after two chapters. It is co-authored by a husband/wife duo Will & Lisa Sampson. Each chapter has three parts: a narrative section written by Lisa who is a popular fiction writer (essentially a novella divided into 13 short sections), a discourse section authored mostly by Will... Read more

A few years ago I took a class called Theology and Film from a Fuller Professor and filmaker named Craig Detweiler. It was seriously one of the most enlightening and enjoyable classroom experience I’ve ever had. Craig is a great teacher and is really passionate about film & culture. It helps that he has a great mind. Anyway Purple State of Mind is a new Movie from the mind of Craig Detweiler, and Priddy Brothers. It’s billed as a conversation... Read more

The pitch did a sassy review of a local band, the acb’s new record. I love this album – get your copy here. Red Guitar used to play with these guys back when they were “Dr. Woo,” that’s how I first met them. I produce this record earlier this year and it’s been on high rotation in the Suttle’s minivan ever since the rough mixes were burned. My son Nicholas (not yet 4 years old) knows every line to every... Read more

biographical sketch: Born: 1927, Smithville, Ohio to Christian & Ethel YoderDied: in his office at N. Dame – 1997 after suffering an aortic aneurysmStudied: Goshen College, BA; PhD. Univ. of Basel in Switzerland, 1962Married: Anne Marie Guth in 1951 while in EuropeTaught: Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, in Elkhart, IN 1960-1970; President of Goshen biblical Seminary 1970 – 1973; Notre Dame 1977 – 1997 “one of the problems with the book is our inability to locate it in a recognizable genre.... Read more

A quick book review on one of the most incredible books I’ve read in recent times. Torture and Eucharist by William T. Cavanaugh[1] is a remarkable work which every student and pastor would do well to read. His account of the horrific torture and oppression of the Pinochet regime in Chile is gripping and emotional in the spirit of Elie Wiesel’s Night. Cavanaugh is focused on the Catholic Church’s ecclesiology and self-perception which in the early years of the regime,... Read more

I saw the most amazing film last night called “Once.” It is the collaborative effort of director John Carney, and musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I don’t really know how to describe this film yet, I’m still letting it hit me. I just know that it was an emotional experience – saying I went to watch a film just doesn’t really seem to portray what it was really like. It’s a film but it’s a musical, though not like... Read more

Here’s a quick review of a really good book called Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? by James K.A. Smith I have long believed that some of the primary misconceptions regarding the emerging church conversation stem from a substantial lack of appreciation for the impact that French Philosophical/Linguistic thought has had on the movement as a whole. Those attempting to understand this conversation often default to caricature or reductionist views (i.e., candles, couches & culture) and one of the reasons is the... Read more

A quick review of one of the most interesting books I’ve read in awhile. In his book Paul among the Postliberals, Douglas Harink challenges the overly simplistic understanding of Paul’s writings which holds that he was chiefly concerned with justification as matter of personal salvation through faith in Christ. He critiques the traditional translation issues with the rendering of Paul’s words as “faith in Jesus Christ” opting for “the faith of Jesus Christ” for grammatical reasons, but more importantly because... Read more

by Lesslie Newbigin This is just a quick review of one of the best books I’ve encountered in years. Possibly the foremost thing I could say about Lesslie Newbigin is that he is a gifted writer with an amazing intellect and a gift for covering a wide range of issues with a remarkable economy of words. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society is not a long book, but it is concentrated with theological, philosophical and cultural reflection. His positions seem... Read more