It tells us something about the state of the human soul that people have to be reminded of their impending death before they will consider it. Death is perhaps the greatest of all realities we face as a race, and yet think of how few give time to consider its approach. Christian groups have recognized this and thus often use some sort of witnessing style that points folks to ponder their end and their relative preparation for it. The witnessing... Read more

Before we discuss certain precepts, let’s note two important ideas that necessarily undergird a discussion of the will of God. I don’t think that everyone is conscious of these two ideas, but I think that thinking over them will help us understand the importance of the matter of God’s will. That is to say, God’s will does not simply relate to where we go to college. Rather, it relates to the way we understand ourselves—and the way we understand God.... Read more

I think that many evangelicals have been really, really poorly taught on the subject of God’s will. Things were good theologically in the Reformation era, but then the enlightenment hit, and man and his feelings and thoughts took center stage, and existentialism and pietism came to the fore as a reaction against the more rational brand of Christianity of the reformers. That followed with German liberalism, which just generally muddied the waters of theology altogether, and topped off with the... Read more

The years of early adulthood have to be some of the most confusing of all life. I’m thinking particularly here of the confounding nature of contact with the opposite sex during the immediate post-college years. College was a beautiful time for many reasons, not least among them the contact one had with friends of the opposite sex. It’s a really good thing to be able to develop friendships with girls in normal ways. Something is right with the cosmos when... Read more

It’s time to talk about a disorder many guys suffer from. It’s called “LHD” and is short for “long hair disorder.” As one who has suffered from LHD, I am well able to diagnose the disorder. It involves the disposition of many guys to think that they look best with short, rather than long, hair. The symptoms of LHD include too-frequent barbershop visits and extreme sensitivity to any comment regarding the length of one’s hair. For many guys, as soon... Read more

For those who don’t know, there’s an interesting conversation going on amongst evangelicals over the translation of Bible language relating to gender. As popular English has shifted away from masculine-centered language, e.g. “mankind,” some evangelicals have called for a Bible of gender-neutral language wherever possible. That is, at any point where it is not essential that translation refer to masculine gender, the Bible should shift to gender-inclusive language. Where Paul says “brothers,” for example, in introducing a number of his... Read more

It is good to risk and live with freeness in life. I’ve had this deeply impressed upon me in these past few years, with numerous decisions facing me and little clarity as to the exact path I should travel. Such circumstances trouble many, but I find them arresting. There is exhilaration in forging one’s way through life, one tentative decision after another. This is part of the beauty of early adulthood. Contemplating post-graduation in college, I was not sure what... Read more

In the fall of 1999, I went off to Bowdoin, filled with emotion and hope, eager to tackle an expanded world. Mrs. Beaulieau stayed in Machias and continued teaching. This was a normal occurrence. Her contraction of cancer early in the fall was not. Seemingly before I noticed it, she had entered the hospital in a desperate state. I knew of this, but did not contact her. Then, checking my email one day, I learned that she had passed away.... Read more

It is a part of human experience that years after we meet a notable person, we remember them as if we knew them in the present. This is so with my deceased high school English teacher, Mrs. Faith Beaulieau. Mrs. Beaulieau was a special woman, the type of whom one rarely finds anywhere in great quantity but who one often finds in small number in diverse places. In a high school of 160 students in coastal Maine, Mrs. Beaulieau touched... Read more

Plato doesn’t like poets, but I do. I’m reading parts of the Republic for my history of philosophy class and am thus meeting the author’s disapprobation of poetry head-on. That’s okay, though. Plato’s a smart dude, and he’s often right, but he’s not right about everything. Through the character Socrates, esteemed the wisest man of his day, Plato denounces art as mere imitation of life, removed by several degrees from the essential content of life. Poetry, as with all art,... Read more