I somehow missed these worthy words from my buddy Gerald Hiestand, a pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, on the need for pastor-scholars: “The legacy of such great men teaches us the value of uniting the role of pastor with that of theologian; yet a resounding absence of such a union marks the church today. Our most significant theologians now reside almost exclusively in the academy. To be sure, the rise of the academy requires thoughtful academic theologians who live and... Read more
Colossians 3:16-17 reads, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Amen. Happy Thanksgiving, all. Read more
“I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.” (Clyde Kilby quoted in John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 112) A good friend passed this cutting quotation to me in the midst of a conversation, and I thought it too excellent to not share with friends. It seems a... Read more
Just found an interesting article that captured a cultural trend. The New York Times writer Stephen Williams penned a piece called “Home, Hangout, Departure Lounge” that profiles a group of roommates living together in New York City. It’s a short but noteworthy article that includes the following: Here’s how the group came together: “The four roommates from Grand Rapids became friends in high school. Each of them eventually made it to New York, where all but Mr. Armstrong attended the Fashion... Read more
I’ve been websurfing a bit this morning, and I can’t limit myself to citing just one article. So here are a number of especially compelling pieces for you to check out: 1. Stanley Fish just wrote an interesting piece on academic freedom for the New York Times. Quick excerpt: “Indeed, to emphasize the “personal” is to mistake the nature of academic freedom, which belongs, Finkin and Post declare, to the enterprise, not to the individual. If academic freedom were “reconceptualized... Read more
A quick word following up on the Twitter discussion began last week: I’ve seen the word “legalism” attached to my blogs. While I don’t think I’m immune to legalism by any stretch, I would note very quickly that I avoided attaching the word “sin” to my post. I also strove to avoid an automatic equation of Twitter and narcissism (or a foolish waste of time, or other sins and problems). It is my personal opinion that one can easily fall... Read more
1. I saw several Keller articles linked somewhere this week and wanted to share them with you. The series is a few years old (don’t let that in any way deter you from reading) and is called “Advancing the Gospel into the Twenty-First Century.” Parts one, two, three, and four all make for exceptionally provocative reading and thinking. 2. This week, the New York Times ran a disturbing story on the use of antipsychotic drugs with children. Here’s a frightening... Read more
David Brooks of the New York Times and Bobos in Paradise fame on the social effect of the recession: “Finally, they will suffer a drop in social capital. In times of recession, people spend more time at home. But this will be the first steep recession since the revolution in household formation. Nesting amongst an extended family rich in social capital is very different from nesting in a one-person household that is isolated from family and community bonds. People in... Read more
Yesterday’s blog drew a good number of reactions from thoughtful folks. Here are a few responses to comments from yesterday’s post. Many Christians will use Twitter or their Facebook status relatively responsibly. Many, for the most part, won’t be narcissistic, self-promoting, time-wasters, and so on. Great. Many others, however, will not. And thus Facebook and Twitter and their blog will often be used, as much of life in our day is, for narcissism, self-promotion, immaturity, and time wasting, while really... Read more
From Rich Clark’s piece on the good of Twitter over at the always provocative Christ and Pop Culture website: “While we need to acknowledge that a virtual, internet relationship is really no relationship at all, we also need to be honest and acknowledge what can be the real world benefit of knowing, for instance, that I’ve been thinking of doing some freelancing work, playing PS3 a LOT lately, and meditating on the vanity of life. This sort of knowledge makes... Read more
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