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Category Archives: Culture
She Drank from Puddles
She wandered half-naked in the hills outside Redding, drinking from puddles and finding shelter in a burnt-out tree. She was discovered and rescued by a family looking for a Christmas tree. I first heard this story on the radio about … Continue reading
The Greatest Showman, the Power of Story, and God’s Circus
Two intellectually challenged adults were in front of Teckla and I when we went to buy tickets for the movie The Greatest Showman. The young man looked like he had Down’s Syndrome. The young woman seemed to have some speech … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, On Faith, Oyan
Tagged Jesus Freaks, The Greatest Showman, The Power of Story
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Common Grace: My Dad, Harry James, and All That Jazz
My dad loved jazz. Growing up, I never thought this strange even though in those righteous days Nazarenes didn’t smoke, drink, attend dances, or go to movies. It seemed there were more things we didn’t than did. Jazz, of course, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Fathers and Sons, On Faith
Tagged Common Grace, Harry James, Jazz, Jesus
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Common Grace on Mount Magazine
Beetles were his passion, the subject of his PhD in entomology, and the focus of his research on Mount Magazine, Arkansas. Teckla and I had seen what looked like billowing sheets tied to trees out by the bluffs that looked … Continue reading
The Cold
Recently I wandered the grounds of the Heartland Center, near Kansas City Missouri, in 7-degree weather. The sun was shining but the grass crunched beneath my feet. At night it dropped below zero. I had been thinking about the cold … Continue reading
The Lion’s Den Delusion
Too many Christians use the story of Daniel’s night in the lion’s den, not his decades in the governor’s office, to define their relationship with the world. I understand this. I grew up with Bible stories, VBS, Sunday school, and … Continue reading
Sympathy for the Idol
If you think about it, it is hard being an idol. It is a terrible burden, a crushing load of expectations. When we take a good thing and make it the most important thing, we begin expecting it to do … Continue reading
Toxic Authenticity
Some people should never be told, “Just be yourself.” I have grown up in the church and have a nose for hypocrisy. Much of my life has been a search for authentic Christianity: people who are the real deal, who … Continue reading
How Individualism Destroys the Pursuit of Wisdom and Ruins Everything
Recently our pastor preached an excellent sermon from Proverbs 4 entitled “Get Wisdom.” Together we looked at some of the ways we get wisdom: praying, reading the Bible, listening carefully to the Holy Spirit—that Inner Voice and Light that leads … Continue reading
F-Bombs, Harvey Weinstein, and Jesus
If we are serious about the brick-by-brick dismantling of the rape culture, we need to get rid of the f-bomb. I am no delicate-eared prude shrinking in horror at a naughty word. I have worked happily in mills, fields, and … Continue reading