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February 1, 2017
In his work, Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage, Kurt Vonnegut writes: “What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” We live in a time of profound communication technology. We have smart phones, social media, instant video “chatting” with others, texting, and emerging technologies that can link us with practically anything and anybody. Yet we dwell in a culture that is vastly lonely and disconnected. People today yearn for community and a place to belong in an ocean […]
January 25, 2017
“Jesus was a storyteller. He used the language of the day, agricultural language and fishing language, to connect with His followers and disciples.” -Drew Belz These words, from a recent article in byFaith, remind us that the changing mindsets of our times demand a form of communication that touches people where they live. People thirst today for relationships, meaning, hope, and encouragement to help them in the struggles that they face. And oftentimes personal storytelling and its real-life effects provide inspiration and courage along the way. Stories present us with the lives of real people who face real problems and […]
January 19, 2017
Every Wednesday, I enjoy participating in a Bible study with a sizable group of passionate men who love to study the Scriptures and to talk about its application to daily life. For the last few months, we have studied and discussed the Book of Genesis. This week we found ourselves applying the truths of Genesis 26 to our lives. Mind you, Genesis 26 is not the “hottest” chapter in this narrative-rich book. It doesn’t command attention like the Creation account, the marriage of Adam and Eve, the Fall, the Tower of Babel, and Abraham’s life and events. But in the […]
January 13, 2017
This week, an excellent essay, written by Michael Dimock of the Pew Center, discusses with statistical research the many social and cultural changes that have taken place over the eight years of the Obama Presidency. Regardless of how you view our outgoing President and our incoming President, it is important that we recognize some of these significant changes over the past eight years and attempt to formulate in our minds the ways we can take the gospel to the shifting mindsets of our post-Christian culture. What has changed in America’s mindset and culture over the last presidency? Dimock says: “the country is […]
January 6, 2017
In a recent article in The Atlantic, Spencer Kornhaber analyzes several pop-culture TV shows and movies (The OA, Westworld, Stranger Things, Doctor Strange) and concludes that the “search for the metaphysical” (afterlife) is alive and well in the minds of viewing audiences. This analysis aptly points out that in our post-Christian culture, there is an obsession with a different kind of spirituality-search than what existed several decades ago. In these days, spirituality involves a search for realities beyond what you can SEE with your physical eyes. Meaning is created from your own fantasy and the living of this experience in what is […]
December 20, 2016
You are seeing it in the news everywhere at this time of the year. This year, it’s terrorist brutality at a Berlin Christmas market, a diplomat assassinated in Turkey, and shootings in Zurich, Switzerland outside a mosque. Don’t forget the 2009 Christmas “underwear bomber” as well as numerous showings of domestic pressure to cancel Nativity displays and any language that has “Christ” or something religious in it. Christmas continues to be under attack. How does the gospel address this post-Christian darkness? We need to see that it’s not the “season” surrounding this holiday that offends people. It’s the person embodying the […]
December 16, 2016
It was supposed to be a normal Wednesday night on June 17, 2015 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Faithful parishioners were going to the church’s mid-week Bible study and prayer meeting. Many of them made this activity a part of their normal schedule and spiritual growth. But what was anticipated as a regular Bible study and prayer meeting soon turned into one of the most horrific events ever imagined. Nine people were killed, including the pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, also a SC State Senator. This week, the court trial of the suspected killer was held, […]
December 2, 2016
Something is happening in American culture today that makes the phrase “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” a more vivid metaphor than we’d like to admit…The more traditional models are breaking down. We find ourselves struggling to find adequate ways to understand and respond to a world that is not what we have known. The institutional church is going through a radical change in this country, and the entire system is under incredible stress. Regele and Schulz’s analysis above has borne fruit in our times. In many cities and towns throughout America, the church—Protestant and Catholic—continues to experience […]