Category: Culture
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Gay Marriage as Metaphor?
Read more: Gay Marriage as Metaphor?Last week, President Barack Obama affirmed his personal support for gay marriage, pushing the issue into the political spotlight once again. Of course, it’s much more than politics. It’s a spiritual issue, too. When faced with the question of gay marriage, Christians will often rattle off buzz verses that explicitly condemn homosexual practice, such as…
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The Biola Queer Underground
Read more: The Biola Queer UndergroundWe, The Biola Queer Underground, are a group of like-minded LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) students and allies who have formed a private underground community in which we share our life struggles, as well as our love and support for one another. The main problems that we see in the Biola community are…
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The Empty Ecstasy of Entertainment Escapism
Read more: The Empty Ecstasy of Entertainment EscapismLast weekend, numerous people throughout the country collectively invested $200.3 M into 2 hours and 23 minutes of their time. This investment was the purchase of a movie ticket to escape the world of reality to play in the super-hero fantasy world of The Avengers. I’ll confess: I tossed a few bucks into the pot…
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What to Think About Church Growth
Read more: What to Think About Church GrowthI don’t know what to think about church growth anymore. I’ve always believed it’s God that causes a church to grow–and I still do. But what role does the leadership of the church play in bringing more people in? I’m afraid the answer to this question I’ve long held to is actually little more than…
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Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and a Lunatic: How I Was Reminded to Examine with the Right Lens
Read more: Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and a Lunatic: How I Was Reminded to Examine with the Right Lens“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” –Albert Einstein Anders Behring Breivik looks almost ghostly. In every picture that I see of him, he appears serious and menacing and totally unrepentant. This repentance he lacks should be for the murder of seventy-seven people last year when he both detonated a bomb…
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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Read more: With Great Power Comes Great ResponsibilityYesterday Albert Mohler published an article at his website entitled, “Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?” The article–or at least its title–inspired megachurch pastor Rick Warren to tweet, “@albertmohler A TITLE questioning 1000s of churches’ orthodoxy due to size is unChristlike. U need to apologize to pastors Al.” Despite the knee-jerk reaction it elicited from Warren,…
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Less Knowledge = More Power
Read more: Less Knowledge = More PowerThe Industrial Revolution changed the world. It made possible much of the wealth and prosperity that would have otherwise remained elusive. But now, it also is destroying the environment and dehumanizing laborers. The good of the Industrial Revolution obscured the bad. The consequences, though they could have been predicted (and maybe were by some) remained unforeseen by…
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Amazing Grace: The Prisoner’s Anthem
Read more: Amazing Grace: The Prisoner’s AnthemWhen I received news of Chuck Colson’s passing, I was instantly overcome by the grace of God and his relentless desire to save the most wretched people on earth. Chuck Colson was a man transformed by the power of Christ. He entered those prison walls a convicted felon, but he found freedom like nothing on…
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Bread, Circuses, and The Hunger Games (Guest Post)
Read more: Bread, Circuses, and The Hunger Games (Guest Post)NO SPOILERS AHEAD Twenty-three children must die. This is all I knew about the “Hunger Games” before walking into the dark theater to watch the very popular film with my little sisters. If you know me at all then you might be shocked to hear that I would endorse such a movie being not only…
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Disabilities and the Church: From Periphery to Center (Guest Post)
Read more: Disabilities and the Church: From Periphery to Center (Guest Post)The day my youngest brother was born was simultaneously incredibly joyful and acutely painful. Being in 5th grade, I was filled with the excitement at the prospect of a new addition to our family, and hopeful for future trips to Disneyland. But all that changed when, upon his birth, the doctors informed us that Daniel…