Universities are in the business of teaching and learning. Paying less than a living wage to the custodial staff teaches something. And thus everyone within that community learns something about the meaning of pay, of work, of dignity, of value and of values. Read more
Zacchaeus was a wealthy, powerful man. "Salvation" didn't give him the option of remaining that way. He couldn't simply apologize, promise to stop defrauding people in the future, and then sanctimoniously remind everyone that they were obliged to forgive him for having defrauded and oppressed them because that, after all, is Jesus' message. Read more
Alan Noble: "The problem is that for most of U.S. history, Christians haven’t been persecuted — at least not in comparison to early believers or even what Christians in places like Iraq face today. So, the question for American Christians is what to make of the Bible’s warning that we will be persecuted. For many evangelicals, the lack of very public and dramatic persecution could be interpreted as a sign that they just aren’t faithful enough: If they were persecuted, they could be confident they are saved." Read more
"What happens to a man to whom all things seem possible and every course of action open? Nothing of course. Except war. If a man lives in the sphere of the possible and waits for something to happen, what he is waiting for is war -- or the end of the world. ... In war the possible becomes actual through no doing of one's own." Read more
The Parable of the Penitent Public Figure and the Unforgiving Patriarch Who Refused to Accept His Apology Like Jesus Commanded describes some very un-Christlike behavior on the part of Abraham and Lazarus. They don't seem to understand that they have a duty to accept Dives' apology and forgive him unconditionally. Read more
Some Tuesday morning linkage, including: Horowitz is William Wallace II too; slaves to the law; Scalia still deaf to those shouts from the rooftops; #WarOnWhites a window into two Americas; we need more specialists to walk into bars; a merciful bishop and an unmerciful church. Read more
It may seem odd to compare the famous evangelist Billy Graham with the infamous novelist Henry Miller. Topic of Cancer is probably not one of the books on the shelf in the Rev. Graham's study. But a recent interview with Graham's grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, reminded me of a story about Miller and George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War. Read more
A few things for a Monday morning, including: Donald Trump is still horrible; the Trivia Superteam and the book of James; a whole bunch of people who killed Goliath; plus explosive eggnog, live-blogging rehab and rectories of the rich and famous. Read more
"And when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ... Then he became angry and refused to go in." -- Luke 15 Read more
Mark Driscoll's so-called "apology" only reinforces and restates his gospel of misogyny. He apologizes for his tone and his language because, in his eyes, repeatedly comparing his targets to women is the worst possible thing anyone could say. Everything Driscoll identifies as bad, weak, dirty or evil he characterizes as feminine. Everything Driscoll identifies as feminine he characterizes as bad, weak, dirty or evil. He hasn't apologized for that. He still doesn't realize that is wrong. Read more
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