• Christianity,  Culture

    Stories of Freedom

    “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.” -1 Timothy 2:1-3 (Video Credit: Igniter Media)

  • Christianity,  News

    Louis Zamperini, RIP (1917-2014)

    The news just came out this morning that Louis Zamperini has died. Zamperini will be known to history as an Olympian and World War II hero, but his life was so much more than that. In fact, his story is larger than life, painted on a global canvas, encompassing the heights of human triumph and the depths of human degradation. In short, Zamperini went from juvenile delinquent to Olympian (who met Hitler!) to bombardier to lost at sea to abused POW to home again. The story is vast and incredible. Zamperini had been a prisoner of war for two years in Japan during World War II. No one ever wants…

  • Christianity

    The Hidden Blessing of Infertility

    If you have ever walked the painful path of infertility—or walked with someone who has—then you know something of the grief and anguish that many couples experience when they are unable to conceive. That is why I love Karen Swallow Prior’s recent essay in Christianity Today, “The Hidden Blessing of Infertility.” It is well worth your time to read and share. Here’s an excerpt:

  • Christianity,  Politics

    Grateful but Sobered by the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby Verdict

    I have said before, and I will say it again that Obamacare’s contraception mandate forces one of the most egregious violations of religious liberty in our nation’s history. It forces pro-life business owners to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion-inducing birth control methods. For this reason, there was much at stake today in the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision. That is why I breathed a sigh of relief when the Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby earlier today. In a narrow decision (5-4), the Court ruled that the federal government cannot run roughshod over the religious liberty of its citizens. In short, the Court found that the government…

  • Christianity

    Sin infantilizes us

    Profound wisdom here: “People whose lives are riddled with unrestrained sin act like rebellious children. Sin, when unrestrained, infantilizes a person. Here I had thought that I was so mature, so capable, so ‘important’ in the world, and the truth remains that I didn’t even know how to act my age! After conversion, I was surprised to discover how old I really was.” –Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of and Unlikely Convert, p. 108

  • Christianity,  Culture

    Is it cruel and harmful to acknowledge your baby’s gender?

    Christin Scarlett Milloy says calling a baby a “boy” or a “girl” at birth is like playing Russian roulette with your baby’s life. Why? Because what if your baby grows up to disagree with the gender they were assigned at birth? Milloy says that such children grow up depressed and perhaps suicidal. Milloy’s argues, therefore, that we should not risk a child’s well-being by assigning him/her a gender at birth. Instead, we should just let them figure it out for themselves.

  • Christianity,  News

    The Wild Goose Festival wilder than ever

    Readers of this blog know that I have written in years past on the annual “Wild Goose Festival,” which is taking place right now in Hot Springs, North Carolina. The yearly meet-up is a kind of Woodstock for progressive Christians. It features music, speakers, art displays and more. Many of the personalities there are disaffected evangelicals. In fact, Frank Schaeffer described it today as a place for “survivors of evangelical backgrounds.” He writes:

  • Christianity

    The future of gay marriage within evangelicalism

    Recently, Ed Stetzer interviewed Trevin Wax, Jonathan Merritt, and Sarah Pulliam Bailey about the future of evangelicalism (see above). This is an interesting conversation that circles back around to the issue of same-sex marriage several times. At about the 38-minute mark Jonathan Merritt speculates on “one possible future” for gay marriage in evangelical churches.

  • Christianity,  Culture

    Should you allow your children to go to sleepovers?

    I came across a provocative passage today in Jim Dobson’s book Bringing Up Girls in which he discusses the issue of children’s sleepovers. In short, Dobson argues that the day of sleepovers has passed. There are simply too many risks involved. Parents, therefore, should be wary of allowing their children to participate in what for many of us was a very common part of our growing-up years. A big part of this is simply understanding that times have changed. Our hypersexualized culture requires parents to exercise special vigilance over their children—not only because of the pervasive availability of pornography, but also because of predators who are more than willing to…

  • Christianity,  Politics

    Heads-up about Supreme Court on Hobby Lobby

    It is very likely that the Supreme Court will issue its verdict this week in the Hobby Lobby Case (aka, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc). When it comes down, the court’s decision has the potential to be the most consequential religious liberty case in our lifetimes. It could set the trajectory for religious liberty—for good or for ill—for generations to come. What’s at stake? Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate requires certain employers to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs. That means that some Christian and other pro-life employers will be forced to violate their consciences or face crippling fines from the government. I have no idea how the Court will rule…