The Aesthetics of Tolerance
A number of years ago, I had occasion to fly to Korea via San Francisco. Flying across the US on a clear day is one of those rare pleasures which really allows you to get the geographical measure of the…
Category Reformation21
‘Til Kingdom Come
So much recent debate surrounding social justice seems to boil down to fundamental disagreements and misunderstandings about the relationship between the “Kingdom of God” and the “Church.” Many have conflated these two biblical concepts so as to lose the clear lines…
Rebirth of the Gods: The Normalization of Pagan Spirituality
We used to talk about the New Age. When I first began to think about how a worldview can shape culture, New Age was all the rage. Now noone even mentions New Age. So it must have failed, right? Actually,…
Log College Press
Technology is at the same time destructive and creative, disruptive and connective. It erases jobs from existence (has anyone seen an ice cutter or an elevator operator recently?), and creates whole new industries and vocations (pause to recollect that no…
Praying Through the Scriptures: Acts 7
Over the years it has been my practice, learned from others, to offer up praises and petitions framed by a passage of Scripture. Some of these passages were read in preparation for preaching, others offered material for meditation in daily…
Godly (Dis)contentment
Nineteenth-century author and hymn-writer Elizabeth Payson Prentiss lived a life of exemplary faith in the midst of serious trials. For most of her life, she was confined to bed as an invalid, and her husband also suffered from ill health.…
It’s Not About Kaepernick
To mark the 30th anniversary of its groundbreaking ‘Just Do It’ ad campaign, the Nike corporation recently announced a new campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, unarguably one of the most polarizing figures in America today, with the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it…
IRBSTS Presidential Inauguration
The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy (and each Gospel minister) not to be innovative or novel in his ministry, but to be faithful, when he gave the following charge: “The things which you have heard from me in…
Retribution and Redemption
Last month, Pope Francis expressed his opinion that the death penalty is unacceptable in all cases. At the same time as he took his public stand, a series of popular opinions circulated online about whether or not the death penalty…
How One Book Changed My Life
Books are marvelously powerful. Thomas Aquinas is said to have feared the “man of one book,” and no wonder: a great book has great power to transform the soul. And in my own life, the recently translated prolegomena volume of…