Philosophical Fragments
Renowned pastor and writer Tullian Tchividjian explains the subtle ways in which God works through suffering to draw us to his grace. Read more
Renowned pastor and writer Tullian Tchividjian explains the subtle ways in which God works through suffering to draw us to his grace. Read more
DAILY FRAGMENTS FOR OCTOBER 5, 2012 QUOTATIONS THE INVISIBLE HORDE: “Peaceful, loving Christians are the rule in both their frequency and lack of newsworthiness, and as a result – due to the availability heuristic – we underestimate their prevalence.” DON’T BE LIKE LADY MacBETH: “I am proud to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and if that puts me at odds with my country’s official policies about abortion, capital punishment, or war, well then — so be it. I want... Read more
I was dressing in the Gold’s Gym locker room this morning, along with a couple other early risers, when CNN featured actor LeVar Burton denouncing Mitt Romney’s “attack on children…attack on disadvantaged children.” Burton is the long-time host of Reading Rainbow, and his response, he said, was “outrage” when Romney threatened to cut the federal subsidy to PBS. Host Soledad O’Brien also quoted the CEO of PBS saying that she “fell out of her chair” when she heard Romney’s words. Why... Read more
Yesterday, in the light of a new book by pastor T. C. Ryan on his struggle with a pornography addiction, I reflected on the nature of sex addiction and addictions generally. The basic dynamics of addiction, I suggested, are identical to the basic dynamics of sin. We are made to rest in God and God’s provision, yet we reject God and elevate other things above Him, and then we find that we increasingly enslaved to them, increasingly incapable of overcoming... Read more
Daily fragments for October 4, 2012: Quotations JOHN C. GOODMAN: “If we just allowed low-income people to obtain health care in the same way we allow them to obtain food, we would make health care immediately accessible to millions of people.” – John C. Goodman. BUBBA: “If you live in a shame-based society where you think nothing good’s gonna happen, the temptation is to wait for somebody to say something you’d find offensive and you can lash out against it.... Read more
Romney was the clear winner of the first Presidential debate tonight. He answered questions about his preparedness. He achieved what he wanted to achieve. He changed the narrative. He demonstrated remarkable control of data and detail. And he fought back effectively against the caricatures of him that have gained currency in American media and pop culture. It was a substantive policy discussion, a debate worthy of this country. While it is the case, inevitably, that questions go unanswered and lots... Read more
What do you do when a pornography addiction has taken over your life? What do you do when your sexual urges are overwhelming your thoughts, your relationships, your power to resist? Then, what do you do when you’re also a person in a position of moral or spiritual authority — a parent, a teacher, or (God forbid) a pastor? T. C. Ryan’s Ashamed No More is a courageous, compelling and thoroughly necessary account of the struggles of sex addiction, the ways in which the... Read more
Recently I was invited to interview the comedic actor Kevin James (television’s long-running King of Queens and many movies such as Hitch, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grownups, The Dilemma, and Zookeeper) and to screen his film hitting theaters now, Here Comes the Boom. In the film, Kevin James is Scott Voss, a burned-out teacher who rediscovers a purpose in life when he commits to raising the money to fund the school’s music program, which is about to be eliminated due to budget cuts. He... Read more
Here’s a testimony you have to read. I know the story well, since I shared a home with Tara and her family for a year, and since Tara and I were in a small writing group together. I’m a big fan of hers, and she has an extraordinary story to tell: Scott, my husband of five years, died while I was seven months pregnant with our first child, Sarah. Ten days later, she was delivered stillborn. It was, and is,... Read more
Evangelicals are neither loved nor respected in the American public square. This is due in part to our enduring and principled commitment to truths and values the rest of mainstream society rejects, and in part to a tendency in media and academia to present a caricature of evangelicalism that elides its virtues and exaggerates its vices. But it’s also due in part — in large part, we must confess — to a thoroughgoing failure amongst evangelicals to represent themselves, their... Read more
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