If you are like me, the niceties of health care policy are not your forte. The recent fracas over health care in America, therefore, may have gone over your head. Better to avoid those technical discussions and keep on keepin’ on. Here’s one thing to think about, though: government decisions affect our lives. Here’s an example of this. It’s one California woman’s narrative of her struggle to keep getting the excellent health care she needs to survive. This isn’t a... Read more
How can Christian churches be an effective presence in a culture and society that seem increasingly hostile to them? It’s a tough question. It’s also one that every single pastor, elder board, and congregation needs to be asking. Here’s the reality: whether we’re aware of it, we are all “missional” now. If we would see fellow sinners saved and edified, we must all go and tell; we cannot sit back and wait for the masses to come to us. This... Read more
A couple of great pieces popped up this week about Christian parenting. Few subjects are more vexing today, particularly as many young Christian parents either did not grow up in godly homes or did not receive much training in how to be a godly father and mother. First, John Piper’s piece on the absolute necessity of teaching obedience in the home went viral. I’ve observed a great deal of the “either grace or legalism” conversation currently unfolding in evangelical circles.... Read more
I recently read a nicely-written Christianity Today profile of a musician named Jason Harrod. Jonathan Fitzgerald, a gifted young evangelical writer, penned the piece. Harrod is a faith-expressing musician, but he makes clear in his lyrics and remarks that his is an up-and-down spirituality. See the following: On “One of These Days,” Harrod promises to “get it right,” but then counters, “until then I want to get so gone, I want to be so wrong, I want to see what damage... Read more
If you like good rap, original production, and biblically thick lyricism, you will enjoy Beautiful Eulogy. Based out of Portland, Oregon, and featuring Odd Thomas, Braille, and Courtland Urbano, BE–from the label Humble Beast Records–has established itself as one of the top Christian hip-hop groups. That could be read in the wrong way, I suppose. BE makes great music, period, and it makes music that glorifies the Lord Jesus. The group has just released their second album, Instruments of Mercy. It’s a... Read more
One of the strongest challenges in creating a marriage-friendly culture today is overcoming myths that crop up around it. Because marriage is a huge deal, people alternately get scared of it, attack it, or avoid it. To counter the misconceptions, I just wrote a piece for Boundless entitled “What Is Marriage Really Like?” that addresses, um, what marriage is really like. I’m thankful for Boundless, a ministry of Focus on the Family which has done terrific work in helping young people in... Read more
I saw these words from former NFL star Brett Favre on memory loss and concussions today. Favre was asked by the St. Louis Rams to come out of retirement at age 44 and play again. Here’s what he said in a radio interview recently: I don’t remember my daughter playing soccer, playing youth soccer, one summer. I don’t remember that. I got a pretty good memory, and I have a tendency like we all do to say, ‘Where are my glasses?’... Read more
A recent piece over at Acculturated, a fun and thought-provoking site, just went viral. Mark Tapson wrote “In Defense of Disney Princesses” in response to a push by feminists to picture girlhood in more careerist terms. Tapson defended the idea of traditional femininity in his essay, and I’m very glad that he did. Speaking broadly, I agree with his perspective. Girlhood is different from boyhood. The way we raise little girls has some crucial differences from the way we raise... Read more
Have you ever heard of Blandina? You should have. She was a second-century slave girl. Ordinarily, her story would have been lost to history. But Blandina was no ordinary young woman. She was a Christian, and a Christian in a time of fierce persecution. In my forthcoming book Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome (Thomas Nelson, Nov. 26, 2013), I tell the incredible story of Blandina. Here’s an excerpt from Risky Gospel published by Gospel-Centered Discipleship: I want to tell you a... Read more
Do you like to think about “culture” and cultural engagement? I do. Many young evangelicals do. I just wrote a review for Christianity Today of a brand-new book by one of evangelicalism’s sharpest young thinkers, Brett McCracken. McCracken, author of the acclaimed Hipster Christianity, just released Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism and Liberty (Baker, 2013). Here’s a swatch from my review: I’m not against a deep-dive into heavy material that probes the depravity of the human condition. But remembering Paul’s words has... Read more
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