The Marshmallow Test

“In an experiment at Stanford University known as the ‘marshmallow’ test,’ four-year-olds were brought into a room one by one. On the table in the room was a marshmallow. Each child was told, ‘You can have this marshmallow now if you want. But if you don’t eat it until after I get back from running …

A Culture-Wide Case of the Fidgets

“Those of us who do not hunger for such extreme stimulation can still find plenty of entertainment in the endless shopping malls, restaurants, fitness clubs, tennis clubs, golf courses, gambling casinos, porn shops, strip clubs, movie theaters and late night television. This is the world of the big M’s: the Mall, McDonald’s and MTV” (Richard …

Calling Covenant Fathers

“Today, the whole trend is against authority, against maleness, against Christianity, against covenant, against law. You have to find the strength that’s much greater than your own if you will be a covenant father, but it remains the need of the hour” (Steve Schlissel, Christian Culture in a Multicultural Age, p. 156).

Thump Thump Music

“A guilty conscience, such as our generation has, often tries to drown out consciousness in order not to be aware of the pain of guilt. Drugs, booze, and the pursuit of deadening pleasures of all sorts, the constant thump-thump music or the ubiquitous narcotic of television—all are ways to drown out the guilt of consciousness, …

Cultures Are Always Loyal

“Culture always comes from religion . . . Culture always becomes a servant of the birthing religion, and its very raison d’etre is to protect, further explicate, and expand the influence and control of the mother religion . . . If you understand the relationship between religious belief and culture, you’ll understand clearly what’s happening …