I recently read an article about the architectural design of airports. Yes, that was an actual article I actually read, and I found it fascinating. A specialist in airport design told how he had been involved in planning Atlanta’s new international terminal and how he and his team had been specially tasked with finding ways…
It was such a blessing to receive your note and to hear that you’ve decided to follow Christ! Sometimes it takes many years for those Sunday school stories to ring true, doesn’t it? It touched me to hear your gratitude for the Bible I sent and how it challenged you to get right with God.…
Over time, a word can change its meaning, sometimes picking up an entirely new definition and sometimes expanding or contracting an existing one. It is not unusual to see a familiar word explode into contemporary parlance with a far more expansive definition than it has had in the past. Think about “tolerance.” For many years…
I think she might actually hate her child. She sat beside me at the soccer game, her daughter competing against mine. Meanwhile, her son sat beside her. Or he did for a minute, at least, until he got up and began to look longingly at the concession stand. He demanded a treat, first plaintively, then…
Over the past few weeks I have been reading through The Lord of the Rings, slowly meandering my way through Middle Earth for the umpteenth time. Every time I read the books, I find myself drawn to something different, some new demonstration of Tolkien’s brilliance. One of the strengths that distinguishes his work from other…
I consider it the greatest privilege, the highest act of God’s providence, that I grew up in a Christian home. I consider it no small responsibility to ensure my children, likewise, are growing up in a home that is distinctly Christian. Then, it is my sincerest desire and confident hope, that my grandchildren will have…
There’s a lot of porn in the world. When I first began to write the articles that would become Sexual Detox, this sin was still lurking in the shadows. Few people knew just how deep and deadly it was. Nearly a decade later, we get it. We know now that nearly every boy and a…
I was making my way home after speaking at an event in Indiana. Or maybe it was Illinois, or Idaho—they all kind of blur together sometimes. Either way, I boarded my plane to find the seat beside me empty. I couldn’t stop myself from hoping that it might just stay that way, that I’d be…
This ongoing Reformed resurgence is an exciting, unexpected development. It has been a joy to watch people from all backgrounds, cultures, and nations discover and delight in those heart-stirring truths. Yet I think many have failed to take advantage of a resource that is theirs by virtue of their newfound theology. Part of the joy…
It’s hardly theological novelty or historical oddity to suggest we should be wary of presenting the immaterial God in physical form. This was the point of my recent article on The Shack movie in which I expressed my concern that its portrayal of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is a violation of…
Edward Snowden changed the world. His disclosures proved that multinational corporations and the U.S. government have been working hand in hand in an expansive program designed to surveil American citizens as well as vast numbers of foreigners. Working for Dell but assigned to an NSA facility, Snowden gained access to the deepest details of this…
Regular readers of this site will know that for some time I’ve been writing articles under the banner of “Sex on the Silver Screen.” These articles grapple with the morality of scenes of nudity and sexuality in film and television. While there has been a long association between sex and the silver screen, only in…
Lin Bian, a psychologist at the University of Illinois, wanted to understand how and when gender stereotypes develop, and especially the old stereotype that boys are smarter than girls. The results of her study were stark. “Among the 5-year-olds, both boys and girls associated brilliance with their own gender. But among those aged 6 or…
Every afternoon at 3 PM, the house is calm and quiet and orderly. It is neat and tidy, the front entranceway is clear, the coat hooks are organized, the horizontal surfaces are clear. But by 3:30 it is approaching the status of a full-out disaster area. Backpacks, hats, and mitts leave a trail down the…
The day The Shack sold its hundred thousandth copy, it became likely there would be a movie adaption. The day it sold its millionth, it became practically guaranteed. And, sure enough, it comes to theaters March 3, starring Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, and Tim McGraw. For some time, I have been considering whether I should…
Coloring books are all the rage, even in the Christian market. A roundup of 2016’s Christian top-sellers revealed seven in the top one hundred spots. I have written about this phenomenon once or twice in the past, but am returning to it today in response to a significant development in the market. I recently received…
Christians have an interesting relationship with suffering. We follow a suffering Savior who assures us that we, like him, will have to bear a cross. We suffer the consequences of living in a world stained by sin, the consequences of our own depravity, the consequences of our association with Jesus. It is no surprise, then,…
It’s not an easy time to be a six-day creationist. For some time now, the weight of conviction within the Evangelical world has swung toward views that demand an old earth. While few Christians are full-out theistic evolutionists, more and more believers hold to an ancient universe with all the complications that come with it:…
We must be the most entertained generation in all of human history. We take entertainment as our inalienable right. If we work hard during the day, we assume we have earned a few hours of amusement at night. Actually, we can’t even make it through the day without at least a few distractions—a couple of…
I have always been glad that there was one person who brought out her alabaster jar and anointed the Lord before his burial. Most people would have waited. They would have kept the jar sealed until after his death. Only then, when his body was torn and cold, would they have broken it open to…