William F. Buckley went to be with the Lord yesterday, and I cannot let the moment pass without acknowledging, however inadequately, my many obligations to him. I attended high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1968 to 1971, and those were, as some of you no doubt recall, zany times in a zany town. I …
And Is Catnip for Consumers
“Cool is the most powerful spiritual environment possible for advertisers” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 18).
Odd Cousins
“American cool and American racism were born together and have grown up together. Cool as we know it was born in the shadowy intersection of black and white America” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 16).
How Big a Problem is Porn?
Here is some good news, I guess, depending on how you look at it, but bear with me for a moment. I have long had trouble with people who try to encourage or alarm us with raw numbers alone. Raw numbers alone are often a very misleading part of the story. An example would be …
Discipline in Context
Yesterday’s sermon was third in a series on loving little children. You can find it here.
Cool and Uncool
“But what is cool anyway? For a passion so prominent in our hearts, we barely notice it, or think about it. We watch our tempers, we control our appetites, and we surrender our jealousies to God, but cool flies below our radar . . . I am defining cool as the private performance of rebellion …
Serious Filums
A few days ago I stumbled across a documentary on the trials of movie makers in dealing with Hollywood’s rating association, the one that supplies ratings for filums. I didn’t watch it long, and what I did watch was kind of choppy because the raunchy clips required channel-switching, but still it was quite informative. The …
That’s My Story, And I’m Sticking to It
“And through their arguing, the thing gets down into their spirits before it is thoroughly examined and understood. And once it gets down there, then it must be maintained” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 421).
Look Before You Leap
“Perhaps you have some ministers or others come to your table, and they tell you a tale of such and such. Your heart is hot presently, but do you understand the matter? You begin to make a stir, but can you give an account of it? Be silent, forbear, and take heed of what you …
Hope Not
“Consider what account we can give to Jesus Christ of all our divisions. When Christ shall come, will you stand before Him with scratched faces, with black and blue eyes?” (Irenicum, Burroughs, p. 401).