June 2006 Archives

I've never been a big fan of the old Western films, which I know opens me up to the charge of being either un-American, or, as Arnold might say, a "girlie-man." After all, what boy didn't grow up idolizing Clint... continue

"God is one; and yet, there is more than one who is the One God." The one or the many! A debate that has dominated philosophy from the beginning. From Descartes ("I think, therefore I am") to Utilitarianism (the maximum... continue

One of the questions I have been asked with some frequency over the last month or so is why my contributions to the Reformation 21 blog tend to have something of a facetious edge to them. I am tempted to... continue

70s rock behemoth, Led Zeppelin had no greater track than Stairway to Heaven. Indeed, so secure is its position at the apex of rock music that many radio polls on the greatest rock music of all time frequently exclude it... continue

Returning home late one night in the early summer, I found that my van's transmission had died. Fortunately, it happened on my driveway; unfortunately I needed to be at the airport at 6am the following morning, which meant that I... continue

Teaching history is probably one of the more depressing activities in which one can engage in the current climate. At an academic level, the discipline has been in self-destruct mode for some time, losing itself in a morass of hyperspecialised... continue

We Christians are caught in a dilemma: it is captured succinctly by Amos: "Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?" (Amos 3:6). It is simply not an option for us to remove God from the... continue

In an article in the Chicago Tribune this week, Jodi Cohen and Maegan Carberry discussed the case of Kate Darmody, a winning member of the National Championship Women's Lacrosse team from Northwestern University. She, along with her fellow players had... continue

Will there be a Starbucks store in heaven? It's a crazy question, I know, but humor me for a second or two. Perhaps we should ask the more theologically precise question: what exactly will heaven be like? It is initially... continue

It should not escape the attention of the Christian disciple that some of the most profound spiritual mysteries are very often closely tied to time and history. Take the incarnation for example. Arguably the most weighty of spiritual realities, and... continue

What is it that causes some people to be more religious than others? Could it possibly be that some people are genetically predisposed to have certain spiritual experiences? Is there a "god" gene? Some people say that there is, or... continue

Shortly before college I read Mortimer Adler's little classic How to Read a Book. That may sound like an odd title. After all, how could somebody read the book unless they already knew how to read? And if they did... continue

Lisa and I believe that from the day our children first arrive in our home, our calling is to prepare them for the day when they will leave. It takes a long time for them fully to learn what it... continue

People know they're not supposed to stare, but sometimes they can't help it. You see, it isn't every day that people in our neighborhood see families with five children, and when they see us all walking down the street--or riding... continue

Genesis 3:15 gives one of the Bible's greatest promises. It is God's curse against the serpent, and his first proclamation of the gospel: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he... continue

Another subtitle should be added to this book, thus reading: Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children: Feminist Perspective. The seven women writers--Jewish, Christian and Muslim seek to focus on Hagar, Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac. In the preface, the editors make it... continue