Don't "Expect a Miracle"
Amid the many lessons people are drawing from the financial crisis we’re all enduring, one lesson emerges as particularly poignant: Don’t...
Obama's Gaffe–and Mine–and Yours…
It may not be obvious at first glance, but President Barack Obama is a lot like me. We both used to live in Hyde Park and attend the...
Simple Is Good; Oversimple Is Bad
I happen to chair the committee that coordinates the major lectureship at Regent College, the Laing Lectures. Roger Laing, our patron, is...
Surely You Can Work a Little Harder…
Some of us need to work harder than we do. Students fool themselves, thinking they are “studying” when they are just hanging out with...
Why I Gave Up "Humility"
Humility is always fertile ground for jokes, isn’t it? A friend will mention an accomplishment, and before the rest of us can tease him,...
Moving Decisions
My beloved and I have decided we ought to move away from our little house in the northeast corner of Vancouver across the Second Narrows...
Praying for Your Enemies
One of Jesus’ most unexpected and difficult commands comes to mind as both Canada and the United States are embroiled in elections, and...
The Boomerangs of Sarcasm and Self-Righteousness
I’ve been struck in the exchanges some of us have been having about American politics (see the previous entry and comments) about the...
A Few Provocative Lines
Here is a small bouquet of quotations to ponder when you’re taking a break from summer recreation: Samson sought the Holy Spirit so he...
I've Gotta Be Me
Here are some people I admire: the apostle Paul, Thomas Aquinas, Francis Xavier, John Calvin, J. S. Bach, Jonathan Edwards, John and...
Be Loved to Love
I’ve had occasion recently to reflect again upon the Apostle Paul’s great exposition of love in I Corinthians 13: Love is patient; love...
When People Do Bad Things to Us . . .
A friend and former student wrote recently of having her heart broken by a man who had told her he loved her and wanted to make a life...
You Are Your GPA
It’s getting towards the end of the academic term throughout North America, and it’s time to confirm a thought that haunt the corners of...
Everything Up in (Holy) Smoke
“I wonder what would happen,” reflects author Mark Alan Powell, “if we collected the offering on Sunday morning, set the plates on the...
E-mail Silence: I'm Not Writing Back Because I Hate You
It’s summertime, and we’re all dealing with e-mail as best we can. Some of us answer it daily no matter what. Others let it pile up when...
Evangelicals, Numbers, and Success
We evangelicals are a funny bunch when it comes to numbers. Some of us sectarian types–and I was raised among such, in a little church in...
Faith and Magic
A correspondent recently posed a series of good, tough questions about the nature of faith. One of them had to do with just how a...
Getting Things Done: A Cult You Should Join
This is a blog about religion, spirituality, theology, and such like. Well, you need to hear about the cult I joined a few years ago and...