Latest Posts
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The Surprising Thing that Liberals and Conservatives Have In Common
Read more: The Surprising Thing that Liberals and Conservatives Have In CommonThere may be some hope for political unity between liberals and conservatives. In this day and age, it seems that more than ever, America is divided. It feels like a constant tug-o-war and with every article and counter-article, both sides only seem to dig their heels in a little deeper. Each blog or video causes…
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Christ the Cornerstone of Christian Hope: Theological Reflections from 1 Peter 2:4-10
Read more: Christ the Cornerstone of Christian Hope: Theological Reflections from 1 Peter 2:4-10In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus warns his disciples that those who persecute him will likewise persecute those who believe in him (Jn. 15.20). The encouragement and consolation penned to the recipients of 1 Peter deem these prophetic words true. While the details of their adversity are unclear, 1 Peter addresses the Christian communities…
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Using Context for Compassion
Read more: Using Context for CompassionI recently had the opportunity to finish up a Trinity course for my ThM studies. Despite the mysteriousness of the topic, it was quite phenomenal to be reading and comparing the thoughts of our early church fathers to more recent theologians. While we didn’t get the opportunity to tackle whole texts like Augustine’s, De Trinitate,…
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Review of Underoath’s New Album: Erase Me
Read more: Review of Underoath’s New Album: Erase MeUnderoath has just put out their new album since reassembling the band after their break up and farewell tour in 2012–13. Needless to say, fans were stoked to dive into the new album Erase Me once it appeared. Sadly, it’s mostly a dud. The album is very formulaic. Each song is bite-sized; the longest track is…
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Christianity, Intersectionality, and the Law
Read more: Christianity, Intersectionality, and the LawPicture Cassandra: a black woman of low income working three jobs to make ends meet. Her supervisor has a negative disposition toward black women of a lower financial caste, believing them lazy and entitled—“welfare Queens,” if you will—with poor attitudes. In accordance with this disposition, he assigns her more work than other associates to supposedly…
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Learn to Love Failure
Read more: Learn to Love FailurePerhaps the most pivotal point in learning how to improve in areas I cared about was learning to love failure. Not loving failure for its own sake, but for the profound influence it had on me. I’ve played sports or competed in some fashion all my life. Competition is in my blood, and I don’t…
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Looking Back to 2005 and a Brief Moment of Sincerity in Pop Music (before the dark times)
Read more: Looking Back to 2005 and a Brief Moment of Sincerity in Pop Music (before the dark times)Irony in music is cyclical (even if we can swear that those cycles take us lower and lower as a society the way we swear the lights are dimming in a theater minutes before the house goes dark). I’m thinking about irony because the magic YouTube algorithm thought I might want to see David Bowie…
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Cultural Aspects of Shame in the Asian American Community
Read more: Cultural Aspects of Shame in the Asian American CommunityLast week, I had the opportunity to teach on the cultural aspects of shame in the Asian American community. While shame can be a heavy topic, I am passionate sharing my research on this topic, since it affects so many people. I am grateful for the students’ feedback as they expressed how this lesson helped…
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Preserving Ladino: The Conservation of a Sephardic Jewish Language
Read more: Preserving Ladino: The Conservation of a Sephardic Jewish LanguageYou’ve heard of Yiddish, but what about Ladino? Many people are familiar with Yiddish, a German-Hebrew language (a blend, if you will) developed and spoken by Ashkenazi Jews from Europe. Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, a Sephardic Jewish language, is a parallel to Yiddish, though much less known.1 The language goes by other names, such as Judesmo/Djudezmo…
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Should Christians join the Military? A Forgotten Perspective
Read more: Should Christians join the Military? A Forgotten PerspectiveI have hesitated to write this post for some time now. Military service holds a special place of honor in American society. Veterans are our heroes, and everyone who joins the military gives up their life. Some sacrifice their lives unto death, while the rest forsake their homes, their families, their friends, and a “normal”…