Chapter 9 of Dual Citizens is on the unworthiness of this world when compared with the glories to come. And of course this is quite right, but we still have to sort out the implications. There are a few things that Jason asserts in this chapter that rub my fur the wrong way, but he …
Putting the Trash Out
My response to chapter 6 won’t be that long because I agreed with a great deal of it. Jason does a good job nailing those who have jumbled up their Christian faith with their heartland, red state patriotism. When that particular jumble gets knocked, we should just let matters unfold. The United States does not …
Sharon Elizabeth Howell, R.I.P.
In Psalm 116, we see the deliverances of God in the midst of life, and we see the ultimate deliverance of God at the end of life. The psalmist is pressed by his troubles—the sorrows of death surrounded him (v. 3). He found trouble and sorrow, which everyone who is paying attention in this life …
From the Church Drinking Fountain
In the Introduction, Stellman argues for a couple of his foundational premises, wanting us to see a clear distinction between worship and life. The basic question he is seeking to answer is this: “What is the relationship between cult and culture, the church and the world?” (p. xviii). Stellman argues that theocracy requires two components …
Triangles Don’t Have Outliers
In a previous thread Jane Dunsworth asked the question when it comes to all questions of “reading culture.” How do you tell the difference between some manifestation of lowlife culture and that same thing (apparently) adopted and carried out by someone whose respectability is beyond question? Hmmm? The problem is the same regardless of how …
Free Markets and Free Grace
In Rodney Stark’s very fine book, The Victory of Reason, he notes a problem with using the word “capitalism” in discussions of economics. He says capitalism “is very difficult to define, having originated not as an economic concept but as a pejorative term first used by nineteenth century leftists to condemn wealth and privilege. Adapting …
Control Your Own Body, Aye
One of the most interesting aspects of the health care debate is watching people who have spent a good portion of their adult lives saying “A,” who then under the pressure of their own position’s internal illogic come out saying “not A.” We are now at that place. Mark Steyn has pointed out, quite aptly, …
Daughters and Grandsons
Apropos of nothing in particular, allow me just a few words about education and girls. In many ways, pastoral ministry is like playing that whack-a-mole game — one thing disappears under the mallet, and another one pops up. And it was probably one you thought you dealt with a few years before, and here is …
Unleashing Your Inner Fundamentalist
Suppose that John R. Rice, during his Sword of the Lord days, accidentally took a couple hits of acid, and prophesied wildly about what would happen down the road if women quit wearing their hair in a bun, and started wearing slacks like crazy. Suppose he got really out there, and promised us all that …
Audio Reading of Post
Like Jello on a Plate
C.S. Lewis once wrote a short story (I think it was called The Shoddy Lands), in which a female character reveals herself to be utterly uninterested in anything but (I think it was) jewelery. I bring this up because I recall reading a reference to that story by someone else who took it as clear …