“Bradford watched in fascination as Radavic pulled open the thick wooden courtroom door and walked in, the embodiment of civic duty. After the glory subsided somewhat, three reporters followed him in” (Evangellyfish, p. 197).
Which Is Not Good
“If you have not lived in your marriage with honest confession of sin, then the chances are good that you have the marital equivalent of a garage that has not been cleaned out for twenty years” (For a Glory and a Covering, p. 98).
Same Sex Mirage
A number of writers, me included, have been warning that the slopes really are slippery, and that the admission of something as radical as same sex mirage into any part of our political life is to introduce it everywhere. And yet, it has been surprising to see how fast the whole thing is moving. It …
Nothing But Cyacowardice
I believe that it is in Screwtape that Lewis says something like the modern man has been conditioned to have a dozen incompatible ideas dancing around in his head. And Lewis himself was not this way, as his friend Owen Barfield testified, when he said that what Lewis thought about everything was contained in what …
A Drunk Trying to Make the Next Lamp Post
The old Bobby Bare song, Detroit City, has a refrain that centered on the desire to “go home.” Unfortunately, everywhere else is turning into Detroit City. Pretty soon there will be no home to go to. Detroit’s bankruptcy, announced yesterday, gives us an opportunity to go over a few fiscal realities, always a good idea …
When a Public Mind Cannot Repent
Many Christian activists and reformers are in that position because they see — they anticipate, they look forward, they can run out the consequences. If they were in a position to do so, they would be good providers for our society. The word provide comes from two Latin words, meaning to see beforehand. You can …
Ground Level Tactics of Christian Resistance
As we continue to think about the things that must be done in the pursuit of cultural reformation, we must make yet another distinction between strategic level thinking, and tactical thinking. There will be times when the strategic application and the tactical application line up perfectly — as when, during an assault by the entire …
On Spiraling into Chaos
The trial of George Zimmerman is now over, and there are perhaps a few things we can learn from the whole sorry mess. Perhaps. In the aftermath of this trial, we clearly have a highly polarized society. On the one hand, we have those who believe that a young and unarmed black man was targeted …
No Need for Right Wing Devils
Jesus teaches us to expect slander, to expect misrepresentation. Further, He teaches us to believe that when this happens, it is a sign that we are gaining on it. In Luke 6:22-23, Jesus tells us to rejoice and leap for joy when we reviled, excluded, shunned, and held in contempt. In Lattimore’s translation of that …
Deception and the Culture War
The metaphor of war can be quite helpful in motivating people to action, but it can also cause a lot of problems. There are things that are permitted in an actual war (such as killing), which should not be tolerated in a metaphorical war, as when a school superintendent declares war on poor spelling. So …