On Gonzaga Basketball, Coaches, and Anglican Pastors

Last updated on: March 3, 2013 at 2:22 pm By Owen Strachan

I really enjoyed this New York Times story about Gonzaga University basketball coach Mark Few. Few has had outrageous success at the Catholic school in Spokane, Washington, winning 80% of all games coached and a stunning 89% of conference games. Look for Gonzaga to be formidable in a few weeks, when March Madness tips off. What’s even more noteworthy, though, is that unlike so many similarly talented coaches, Few isn’t trying–apparently–to climb a ladder to get to a job perceived as “tops”... Read more

What Should You Do When No One’s Mentoring You?

Last updated on: March 2, 2013 at 11:55 am By Owen Strachan

Did you see this excellent piece over at The Gospel Coalition? It’s on mentoring, and it focuses in particular on woman-to-woman relationships. Most all of us want to be invested in, but not all of us have succeeded at finding someone to do it. If that’s true of you, this article has a good deal of personal, practical, and biblical wisdom. I highly commend, and not least because it’s by my mother-in-law, Jodi Ware (wife of theologian Bruce Ware). Here’s... Read more

Can Guys and Girls Be “Just Friends”?

Last updated on: March 1, 2013 at 12:21 pm By Owen Strachan

I don’t know about you, but when I’m engaging gender issues–even serious ones–I try to keep things in perspective. It’s good to be able to laugh at things that are just plain funny as we explore complex issues. It can be easy for all parties, from varying perspectives, to lose a sense of humor in conversations about elemental matters. The video above is a classic in my book (I’ve referenced it before). A couple of young interviewers on a college... Read more

The Last Day of William F. Buckley

Last updated on: February 28, 2013 at 1:56 pm By Owen Strachan

The conservative leader William F. Buckley died five years ago yesterday. National Review, the magazine he founded, just published several articles on his life and legacy. I appreciated one from his friend Larry Perelman that described Buckley’s final night on earth. It seems to sum up a good bit of Buckley’s personality and liveliness. Here’s a portion: My parents and family fled the Soviet Union in the 1970s and I was the first American-born child in my family. I wrote to... Read more

On Daisy Merrick (2004-2013) and Loving Little Children

Last updated on: February 27, 2013 at 10:41 am By Owen Strachan

I blogged a few times in the last year about little Daisy Merrick, the 8-year-old daughter of pastor Britt Merrick and his wife, Kate, of Reality Church in California. She fought cancer for many months before succumbing 11 days ago to the disease. The Merricks chronicled Daisy’s fight for life on the Pray for Daisy blog; you can read the whole story here. After Daisy passed away, Kate wrote a reflection that stopped me in my tracks. It’s a piece... Read more

The God-Driven Family Vs. the Money-Driven Family

Last updated on: February 26, 2013 at 3:54 pm By Owen Strachan

The Her.meneutics blog often has provocative content, and this week was no exception. It featured a piece entitled “Thou Shalt Have More Kids” by Jen Pollock Michel that I found helpful. Michel makes the case that Christian families should not be driven by economic concerns, but by a better vision of the good life than this world provides. Here’s a selection I enjoyed: Regardless if yours is a small family or a big one, we need to ask ourselves: Do... Read more

Southern Seminary Events: Panel on Scripture’s “Immorality” & New England Travel

Last updated on: February 25, 2013 at 1:01 pm By Owen Strachan

Two matters related to life at Southern Seminary. Tomorrow in chapel at 10am, Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler, Jr. will be leading a panel on recent challenges to the doctrine of Scripture entitled “God in the Dock: Is God a Moral Monster?” You can watch the panel, which will feature Denny Burk, Phillip Bethancourt, and myself, here. Among other material, we’ll be covering Eric Seibert’s arguments that I interacted with on this blog and that Christianity Today covered. This... Read more

Eugene Peterson on Pastoring: Vocation, Not Job

Last updated on: February 23, 2013 at 12:19 pm By Owen Strachan

I’m reading through Eugene Peterson’s pastoral memoir, The Pastor (HarperOne, 2011). He offers some great insights and scriptural reflections on the work of the pastorate throughout the text. I don’t agree with some of Peterson’s theology, to be sure, but I have found myself resonating deeply with his conception of the Christian pastor–and work more broadly. This isn’t a book to tear through; it’s one to read slowly, carefully, turning over sentences in your mind. Here’s a selection that stood out... Read more

Women Bludgeoning Women: On the UFC and Femininity

Last updated on: February 22, 2013 at 1:21 pm By Owen Strachan

I had a friend point me to this Sports Illustrated article on tomorrow night’s UFC fight between two women, the first of its kind. The SI author, Melissa Segura, trumpets the bout as a major step forward for women. Here’s a description of what Ronda Rousey, the favorite, does in her trademark move: Rousey’s career, however, has been nothing short of freakish. In six professional fights in the now-defunct Strikeforce circuit, the 26-year-old bronze medal Olympic judoka submitted each of... Read more

The Gospel Is for Baby Bear: On Sesame Street and Gender Confusion

Last updated on: February 21, 2013 at 3:46 pm By Owen Strachan

From the front line of the gender battles I bring you…<drumroll>…Sesame Street. You may be thinking, Seriously? You’re going to blog on a kid’s show and be all super-theological about it? It’s Sesame Street, for crying out loud! Well, dear skeptical friend, I hear you. I did not imagine that in my work for CBMW I would tackle such high-level topics. But the American cultural conversation on sexuality and gender knows no boundaries, including, but not limited to, Sesame Street. In... Read more