Does Jesus Care Who You Vote For in November?

Now that Mitt Romney has secured, more or less, the Republican nomination for president we can begin to look ahead to the general election.  Obama vs Romney! As with previous elections, we will see prominent evangelical Christian pastors and leaders giving out endorsements.  Personally, I am increasingly skeptical of Christian leaders endorsing candidates.  What’s the [...]

Read Full Post »

Fear, Love and Truth

If you are a Christian and you believe in hell as eternal (it lasts forever), conscious (people there continue to feel and experience it) torment (it is horrible), then I have a question: If you stopped believing in that view of hell, would you continue to be a Christian? This is a question I ponder [...]

Read Full Post »

Favorite Books I Read This Year – Brother Lawrence, Biographies, Bible Studies and Bossy Pants

Over the years I am learning to love “the classics”.  There is a reason why a certain book or film has stood the test of time.  Case in point: Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God.  There is more spiritual substance in this small (80 page) book than in much of what you might [...]

Read Full Post »

Dreaming about what the Christian Community Could Do…(Part 2)

A couple weeks ago my wife and I sat down for a game of Settlers of Catan with my sister and brother-in-law.  It was Sunday, the end of a LONG holiday weekend in which we managed to take Junia to see all four sets of her grandparents.  We were tired and a relaxed game of [...]

Read Full Post »

Does Jesus Care if We Say Merry Christmas?

(via Stuff Christian Culture Likes) What would Jesus say if he came to your house and had coffee with you? That is the question asked at around 1:10 into this video.  It is a decent question.  What would Jesus say? *“I miss hearing you say Merry Christmas” *”And if anyone wants to sue you and [...]

Read Full Post »

Harry Potter and the Truth in Good Stories

As I sat in a Barnes and Noble for hours, awaiting the release of the final Harry Potter book, I wondered if we would ever experience this phenomenon again.  Hundreds of people, mostly kids, waiting for a book that will be released at midnight?!?!  Lots of people attend midnight showings of movies.  But I imagine [...]

Read Full Post »

Recent Reads

THON!  I danced in THON in 2002 and it was awesome.  Adam, a PSU alum, can tell you what THON is.  I wish I had written that!  My prayers are with all the dancers this weekend!  WE ARE… Newsweek had a recent article on the Bible and sex.  Get Religion demonstrates what a mess this [...]

Read Full Post »

Recent Reads

I found Albert Mohler making a good point here: “News of the “house of horrors” in Pennsylvania brings prompt moral outrage, and understandably so. But is the abortion clinic on the corner, established for the purpose of killing unborn children, any less a house of horrors. The couple in Australia openly admitted aborting their twin [...]

Read Full Post »

Weekly Word – Persecution, stumbling blocks, spiritual death and us

(Every week, give or take, I send out a brief email to the students with some thoughts from Scripture and I offer it here also in case it may encourage anyone else who comes across it) Last evening we studied Matthew 18:1-14.  When Jesus tells his disciples to have faith like a child, he is [...]

Read Full Post »

Weekly Word – Opposition, Grief and Silence

(Every week, give or take, I send out a brief email to the students with some thoughts from Scripture and I offer it here also in case it may encourage anyone else who comes across it) The first time Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to die on the cross, they opposed him. [...]

Read Full Post »