June 28, 2009
Every once in a while I feel compelled to address a question that, to my knowledge, nobody is asking. For Instance, it would be quite easy for one to look at our weekly schedule as a church, compare it to the goings on at a more program-oriented church, and ask, “why don’t we have more [...]
June 21, 2009
How do we think about slavery when we read about it in Paul’s letters? Was it the same as American slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries? If Paul had been an American in the 1850s, would he have argued for or against abolition? What views lay behind Paul’s words we studied on Sunday: “Were [...]
June 14, 2009
What do the Lord’s prayer and the execution of Shimei the son of Gera have in common?
This connection came into focus for me earlier this week when my morning prayer and evening reading converged in an unexpected way. In the morning I was meditating on the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, especially the phrases regarding [...]
June 8, 2009
Last week I wrote about a startling conversation I had with children from the neighborhood regarding domestic violence. What broke my heart the most was knowing that the twisted perspective they have embraced from pop culture, peers, and family only makes them more vulnerable to enter into and remain in abusive relationships in the future. [...]
May 31, 2009
“Do you think I hit my wife?”
“Yes.”
“I have never hit my wife. Why would I ever do that?”
“Because she talks mean to you…because she doesn’t cook your food right.”
This was the conversation taking place in my van on Saturday as I drove some of the neighborhood children to and from a local museum. It [...]
May 22, 2009
A few weeks ago I asked you to consider attending one of the two Sunday School classes that meets each Sunday morning at 9:30. One is our parenting class, where we are reading and discussing Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel. If you are a parent seeking to raise your child in a gospel-centered home, I hope [...]
May 17, 2009
For nearly five months now I have attempted to keep a retaining wall around my rising engagement with the television show Lost when it comes to sermon illustrations or articles. Since Wednesday evening’s episode was the last of the year, I thought I could indulge one article for musing on the parallels between the fictitious mythology of Lost and, [...]
May 10, 2009
This week I heard an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air that gave me a glimmer of hope that abortion will one day be unthinkable. Terry Gross was interviewing Ayelet Waldman-a mother, writer, and former attorney-when she asked about her brand of feminism compared to her mother’s feminism.
Waldman (born in 1964) turned to the example of [...]
May 3, 2009
Three years ago, on April 30, 2006, I heard an excited scream as I walked into our house after church. Rachael was checking our phone messages, and heard that the birthmother with whom we were matched had gone into early labor and that our little girl had been born at Tucson Medical Center. Since then, [...]
April 19, 2009
As an unashamed technology geek, I geeked out when I heard about Google’s latest product, Google Voice. If all works as they plan, this service will provide customers with a single phone number that, when called, will simultaneously ring all of your phones-cell, home, office, etc. Among a dozen amazing features, it will provide an [...]
