In the News 1. The attack in Norway was horrific, with an explosion in town to attract the interest of police and then a wanton slaughter of the children of the elite on an island summer-camp. Anders Breivik was driven by a sort of “crusade” on behalf of Christian society. And Norway police arrived 90 minutes after the firing began. 2. Same-Sex Marriages Begin in New York. Meanwhile, Jonathan Turley, attorney for the family of Kody Brown, the “Sister Wives”... Read more
[Note: See Update Below] I did not wake up this morning expecting to be impressed by the clever political maneuvering of John Boehner. If I correctly interpret the events of the past few days, however, then count me impressed. I suspect that Boehner might have cornered Democrats, so they will have to make major concessions to Republican demands on the debt-ceiling issue. Boehner and Republicans might be on the verge getting at least most of what they want. And the... Read more
In advancing this series (Part One, Part Two, Part Three) on David Platt’s Radical Together, I want to address these questions: What exactly is the reform that the American church requires? How exactly should that reform be framed? What are the right terms and categories to explain it? I’ve explained in detail what I find so worthy of celebration in Platt’s work, and in the response to Platt’s work amongst theological conservatives. The truth is, theological conservatives should be – and... Read more
I’ve now written “Are Conservative Churches Getting Radical?” and “The Dangers of ‘Radical Faith’ (and What They Teach Us.” I hope tomorrow to publish more positive suggestions on what radical discipleship might look like, especially in community (and in conversation with David Platt’s Radical Together), but presently I want to explain something in greater detail. My concern, in the second part, was not that we might get carried away and make, you know, actual sacrifices in the course of following... Read more
In the News 1. “Christian Coalition Asks Obama to Protect the Poor During Meeting.” There’s a lot to say about this. On the surface it’s a simple matter: of course the budget should not be balanced “on the backs of the poor.” Underneath the surface, it’s not so simple. What if some programs designed to meet the needs of the poor are inefficient or counter-productive? Can we not cut those because it looks bad? Or is it really a “cut”... Read more
My father has served for decades as an elder and pastor in non-denominational evangelical churches. He devoted extraordinary amounts of time to caring for the people in the congregations: visiting the ill, comforting the dying, counseling couples in crisis, encouraging those who wrestled with depression or mental illness or the loss of a loved one, discipling younger men, and the like. Many were the nights in which my father was not home because he was helping other people hold their... Read more
What has been most encouraging about the phenomenon of David Platt’s Radical — it’s spent 55 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list for paperback advice, and the follow-up Radical Together recently hit bookshelves — is that its sales were driven largely by a theologically and morally conservative readership. The significance of this point cannot be overstated. Young believers committed to radical discipleship and sacrificial service to the poor and the lost have too long felt – and too... Read more
Note: I am traveling most of this week, but will do my best to maintain the blog schedule. In the News 1. Thanks, Moody’s. That’s a great idea. 2. Is it a coincidence that the states whose economies and whose state budgets are faring best have been under the leadership of conservatives? As Walter Russell Mead noted in a typically incisive column recently: The states where unemployment rates for African Americans are relatively low are states where not many African... Read more
1. It’s not often that I have my own comic piece to link to, so I better link to it this week. 2. A friend sent me a link to a video from The Lonely Island this week, but the language in that video was too crude for a family blog, here’s a less crude video from The Lonely Island. It comments on the oldest cliche in action flicks: the action hero who walks away from a massive explosion and... Read more
I don’t agree with all of her recommendations — I think she shows a little too much fondness for regulation, for instance — but I agree with Sheila Bair on one of the primary causes of our current financial turmoil and the inability of the political class to address it: what she calls “short-termism.” She writes: The nation is still struggling with the effects of the most serious financial crisis and economic downturn since the Great Depression. But Wall Street... Read more
Philosophical Fragments
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