Last Saturday, I attended the wedding of a young couple who are friends of mine. They were surrounded by family and friends, including their church family. The love and joy they expressed for God and one another were contagious. Yesterday at church, a young man shared a testimony about his summer overseas mission trip. His love and joy for God and those he saw come to Christ were also contagious. Thank God these young people are starting out well. I... Read more

By Paul Louis Metzger and John W. Morehead: President Trump warned evangelical leaders at the White House this week that their joint work will be overturned “quickly and violently” if the GOP loses the mid-term elections. Such language likely struck fear into the hearts of many of the President’s most ardent evangelical supporters. How often is fear the dominant response of evangelicals in our culture today rather than love? We readily acknowledge the prominent place fear occupies in our country... Read more

By Paul Louis Metzger and John W. Morehead                                                    Earlier this month, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement informing its membership and the rest of the world about a name change. According to Russell M. Nelson, their President and Prophet, as well as an official church style guide, the first reference... Read more

Rabbi Motti Wilhelm of the Chabad Lubavitch of Oregon spoke of his profound appreciation for the value placed on the freedom of religion in the United States. I interviewed Rabbi Wilhelm today for my world religions class. You could feel the emotion behind his admiration for our nation’s heritage of religious freedom. His respect for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was contagious as we recounted how striking such freedom is when compared to the oppression the Jewish community... Read more

A pastor friend of mine drew my attention to The Rolling Stones’ song “Saint of Me” and played it for me. Here’s the official promo video. Pastor Mark Nicklas of Beaverton Foursquare Church said the song is both disturbing and refreshing. It’s disturbing because, at least in the song, Mick Jagger appears to have turned his back on the possibility of taking up the cross and following Jesus. It’s refreshing because he’s honest about the struggle of pursuing Jesus and... Read more

The following is an interview with the editors of a timely, new volume published by InterVarsity Academic on the subject of theological method. The interview on “Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views” with editors Stanley E. Porter and Steven M. Studebaker addresses pressing challenges theologians face today in accounting for and developing theological method. One such challenge is that many scholars and students often function as “Nike theologians,” that is, “they just do theology.” Another challenge is that many approach theological... Read more

This spring semester, I had the honor of serving as Senior Mission Scholar in Residence at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC) in New Haven, CT. It was a privilege to learn from missional leaders from around the world, and from OMSC’s Executive Director, Dr. Thomas John Hastings, who served as a mission scholar in Japan for many years. The following is Dr. Hastings’ timely engagement of key concerns pertaining to missional Christianity in our post-colonial world. Here Dr. Hastings... Read more

I have been making preparations with a neuroscientist for a forum on depression in the context of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In the course of our preparations, we discussed the need to help care-givers understand that these matters are extremely complex. We all need to increase our attention span on the subject. As a result, statements like “Will yourself to stop being depressed” is not sufficient for addressing psychological and mental health concerns. We also acknowledged that we may never reach... Read more

ADHD, formerly called ADD, stands for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (Refer here for a discussion of the two terms). The National Institute of Mental Health defines ADHD in the following terms: “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.” It says this about the signs and symptoms associated with ADHD: “Inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity are the key behaviors of ADHD. Some people with ADHD only have problems with... Read more