The students I meet as a professor are idealistic and want to be world changers. They dream of deeds that will transform the world. Some of them do go on to great things. But many do not, and their lives are sidetracked by addictions, poor financial decisions, and failed relationships. Where do they go wrong? In dreaming of epic lives, a lot of my students are forgetting the value of small-scale heroism. Many of them could in fact live epically... Read more

Risen, in the spirit of Mel Gibson’s Passion, is a forthcoming blockbuster film about the first few days after Christ’s resurrection. It tells the tale from the perspective of a roman soldier, who, tasked with disproving the resurrection, finds his assumptions challenged and his worldview shattered. I love historically responsible depictions of Biblical and classical events, and I can’t wait for this film to appear.   But is the film accurate? Does its story depict things the way they (probably)... Read more

The statistics suggest that over the last decade in America, the cultural Christians have finally begun to break ranks with other, more observant Christians. It’s not that participating Christianity is declining so much as it is that the persons who in previous surveys have classified themselves as ‘Christian’ because it was the culturally expected thing to do have now begun no longer to classify themselves with any religious designation at all. From recent Pew surveys we are told that the... Read more

During the Christmas season, friends and family are one of the blessings we celebrate. But, looking at our actual life choices, many of us do not always see friends and family as sources of strength along life’s journey. A New York Times special report that was published online on October 18, 2015 described the life and death of a retired mover named George Bell. There was nothing distinctive about Bell and he died alone of heart disease in his apartment... Read more

  Today, nearly 500 years after the Protestant reformation, orthodox Protestants and Catholics are closer to each other than they perhaps have ever been. And this is as it should be. While they still have important differences about the primacy of Rome, the place of Mary, justification by faith, and the structure of the church, it is not uncommon on practical ethics issues for conservative Protestants and Catholics to be working alongside each other in the political trenches – and... Read more

The life of a Christian is much more than following a list of behavioral requirements. A lot of the time it is a matter of resting in God. The providence of the Lord is a multi-faceted thing. The Lord takes care of His little ones, even when times are bleak. This doesn’t always mean that He resolves the situation in our favor. But it does mean that His comfort and love are there in the difficult times. And it means... Read more

As our culture sinks deeper and deeper into its own self-created sexual chaos, many of us in recent months and years have rightly been concentrating our energies against its sensual excesses. And yet, at the same time it is imperative that we not neglect the other aspects of our faith, even as we continue to fight for sexual beauty, fidelity, and goodness. We must still give generously and sacrificially to the poor, putting their needs above our own. We must... Read more

Recently I have been reading about the decisions of several Christian leaders to give up on private Bible reading.  One reason why they are giving up seems to be that they lack confidence in their ability to be faithful interpreters of the meaning of the Scriptures.  Another reason is that they think that many of the books of the Bible were intended to be read publicly. They are wrong, though. It is not a good idea to give up on... Read more

School started a couple of weeks ago for me. As a teacher, I often counsel students. The life of a student varies from indolence to desperate industry during the course of a semester. Many of my freshmen are experiencing for the first time the opportunity to structure their time for themselves. I counsel them to be self-conscious in the way that they structure their time, and to be ruthless about eliminating distractions. My message is that if they find that... Read more