Going into Election Day 2016, I was convinced that scriptural believing Christianity is a minority worldview in our country. I continue to be of that opinion. And it’s not because I’m a democrat – I’m actually a small government, social conservative, so I have no party. I voted for a lot of people who lost yesterday. Just like I have done for the past several years. I’m used to my guys/gals losing politically. But here is the thing: politics is not my primary identity. My political leaning does not define who I am. I hope that my faith does. And, as I stated in a sermon several weeks ago, the simple fact that we had the two major party candidates for President that we did, was further evidence that our country is not a “Christian nation.” In fact, it holds our values in contempt. I continue to believe that, and I knew that the day after the election would feel this way for me, because I knew that, regardless of who won, I was going to have a President with whom I very deeply disagreed. Continue reading “Thoughts after the elections”
The Last Horror
It is a happy coincidence on this Feast of All Saints, after just experiencing the frivolity of Halloween with my children last night, that I am working through CS Lewis’ brilliant little book, “The Great Divorce.” It is even happier, that I am working on chapter 9, and find in it, some interesting commentary on “ghosts.”
The contrast from the horror of All Hallow’s Eve to the celebration of the Feast Day of All Saints is also a tension. It’s interesting to think about the purpose of Horror. Peter Leithart just wrote a quick piece on that in “First Things.” He takes time to reflect on Terrence Rafferty’s review in The Atlantic of a Guillermo del Torro movie. He wrote: Continue reading “The Last Horror”
Remembering St. Patrick
It’s the Feast Day of Saint Patrick, one of the Church’s great evangelists and missionaries, which we in the States of course celebrate by pinching each other and getting drunk. I really appreciate the work of God through Saint Patrick and find his missionary work increasingly relevant in our post-Christian culture. How do we reach and engage folks outside the faith and how do we reach them where they are? Patrick was not even Irish, but actually kidnapped by the Irish when he was young. After escaping his slavery, he eventually returned to those very people in order to share Christ with them. It is an amazing story and demonstration of the grace of God.
I was reading a bit from one of my church history books about this time period, and learned that this movement in Ireland became so large, the Irish then sent missionaries to other countries, most notably, Scotland. There was a well known missionary named Columba who settled in Iona and eventually a monastery was founded there that became a crucial center of missions to Scotland.
It’s amazing what God has done through faithful people and today we remember one of them, Patrick of Ireland.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Here are some other posts on Saint Patrick I have written:
This one features the well known prayer attributed to Saint Patrick.
This one features one of my favorite stories of Saint Patrick’s fearlessness in his faith.
Why the PP response doesn’t assuage me
Yesterday I put something out on twitter that was my reaction to the recently released video of a Planned Parenthood official discussing the harvest and sale of aborted babies’ body parts. I do not usually enter these sorts of things on social media as I find them counter productive almost all of the time. Furthermore, I do not want to alienate folks who have had abortions or have had girlfriends or family members have abortions. I actually am of the opinion that the woman is a victim in this procedure as well, and I believe that statics showing health and emotional risks more than bear me out on that.
Anyway, from time to time I feel that as a pastor I do need to try to offer some commentary on issues such as these, so I simply shared that the video literally made me feel ill.
Today there are articles written by media who seem to be acting as the mouthpiece for Planned Parenthood that are coming to the defense of the organization. Here is one such article. Continue reading “Why the PP response doesn’t assuage me”
Fifty Shades: An Old Story Told Poorly
Apparently there is a new sexy movie called “50 Shades of Grey.” It is something about bondage, physical and emotional domination, and kinky sex, from what I gather. To be honest, the appeal of this particular movie is beyond me, but it is real. Therefore, I wanted to encourage people to think through whether or not they ought to support such a story.
I’ll probably come off as some sort of prude, Luddite, moralist, but I’ll state this anyway. It absolutely blows my mind that in an age when we trumpet equality for women, a story that is so anti-woman could gain so much traction in our society. I did my due diligence to understand the story by reading the appropriate Wikipedia articles (among other things), and let’s be honest, the story is not complex enough to warrant anything deeper, right? The conclusion I drew was that the appeal to the story is not simply the sexual aspect, but instead it is the age old fantasy of a woman being able to tame a powerful man. It is the desire of a female to be desired by someone who has power and control. It is the twisting of the nurturing heart of a woman to try to nurture goodness out of evil. Christian Grey, then, serves as the foil for the protagonist’s working out of her feelings of powerlessness in a world where the powerful rule. Plus sex. Continue reading “Fifty Shades: An Old Story Told Poorly”
A Halloween Playlist
I love the fall – the color of the leaves, the harvest, the apple cider… all of it. Part of our annual observation of the seasons as a family involves having some fun around Halloween. This, of course, means exposing my children to some quality Halloween themed music. And to that end, I’d put up my Halloween playlist as quite possible the best ever. I skew towards classic rock and away from some of the hokey novelty songs (I’m looking at you “Monster Mash”). So, here it is:
Continue reading “A Halloween Playlist”