Warring Ideals

Growing up in the States, it tends to amaze me how we can have this tension about our cultural peculiarities. On the one hand, we’re immensely proud of being Americans and all that entails, but we also look fondly on our incomplete cultural heritage. We talk about how our ancestors are from this country or […]

A.C.E. – Accelerated Christian Education

You are about to attend a school unlike any other; it’s an education unlike any public or private school and it really deserves another word to describe it. It is Accelerated Christian Education. You walk into a room to find a series of carrels (I’m used to the word cubicle) that are designed so that […]

Ferdinand

Ferdinand’s Message: Other people try to tell you who they think you are, but living up to other’s people’s expectations has never historically been a recipe for happiness. You should be true to yourself and the rest will work itself out. There’s a good reason why the story of Ferdinand is a beloved classic – […]

Aging and Complementarianism

Self-reliance. Power over women. Playboy. Emotional Control. Winning. Risk-taking. Violence. Dominance. Pursuit of status. Primacy of work. Disdain for homosexuals. These eleven masculine norms thrive in youth and health, but as men age, many of them begin to show signs of negative mental health outcomes and lower positive mental health outcomes, in addition, men are […]

Giving as Good as You Get

Christianity molded me in somebody who is non-confrontational: call me names – really say something insulting, question my honor, my parentage, get down-right mean and use a few expletives – and I really have no response for that. I’m told that until I “grow a backbone” and “stand up for myself” people will just walk […]

The Nashville Statement and ‘noble heresies’

“Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of noble heresy …” That’s Governor Swann’s comment about piracy, but I think it applies here. For too long people have been erring by obeying the letter of the law for fear of the uncontrollable freedom the spirit of the text allows. Churches […]

The S-word.

Concerning Virginity by Ambrose (21,477 words) Of Holy Virginity (18,933 words), Of The Good of Marriage (13,792 words), Of the Good of Widowhood (11,942 words) and On Marriage and Concupiscence (40,252 words) by Augustine On Virginity (24,741 words) by Gregory of Nyssa Letter to a Young Widow (6,741 words) By John Chrysostom To His Wife […]

In or Out?

I had been so busy with work, that I never bothered to check the news. I didn’t know it had happened until a day or so later and even then, I had so much work on my plate I couldn’t take the time to sit down and read about it all. It’s only today that […]

Cultural Gender Gaps

So apparently this tech guy at Google wrote a ten page memo explaining that the gender gaps between men and women are responsible for the lack of women in STEM. Clearly, he’s done his homework on his own time and is passionate about the subject. Now the church has two options here: 1.) Decide that […]

Deacons: In Service of the Gospel

The same goes for those who want to be servants in the church: serious, not deceitful, not too free with the bottle, not in it for what they can get out of it. They must be reverent before the mystery of the faith, not using their position to try to run things. Let them prove […]