Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful: thankful for family and friends, for a good job or financial stability, for delicious food and the skill that goes into preparing it, and for an innumerable amount of amazingly good things in one’s life. And though they are innumerable, most people find joy in the attempt to […]
Continue readingAmericans talk a big game about “justice” today, but the sorry truth is that many don’t actually care about justice at all. What is thought to be the solid rock of justice by most contemporary thinkers is really just the fickle sands of sentiment—an all consuming, emotion-driven, foolish, relativizing substitute for justice, truth, and morality. […]
Continue readingIn a blog post on the topic of structural racism, John Piper says that his goal is to “reduce the instinctive, white, evangelical reaction against the idea of structural racism or systemic racism.” His strategy is to show that “Bible-shaped people should expect to see structural racism almost everywhere in a fallen world.” The argument, in brief, is that […]
Continue readingBefore getting into the racial equivocations, I need to say something about what is meant by “serpentine shepherds.” I don’t necessarily mean apostate shepherds, though that possibility is not ruled out. I simply mean shepherds who have begun behaving like the enemy (whatever the underlying cause might be). Genuine Christians, and even genuine Christian teachers, […]
Continue readingIn light of the widespread confusion on so-called “social justice” issues, and given the fact that many Christian leaders seem to have chosen not to aid the Church in clearing up said confusion, I thought it would be helpful to publish a short list of basic statements which most Christians should be able to affirm.
Continue readingIt has been said that if we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. I am afraid this statement is all too true in the conservative Christian culture. We are called to learn from history and to fix our mistakes, which brings me to some great concerns from what I am […]
Continue readingAs the holidays come upon us and we prepare to enter a new year, movie buffs like me also prepare for “awards season.” The critics’ awards, the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and ultimately the Oscars will determine the highest-quality output from Hollywood last year (at least according to Hollywood itself).
Continue readingThere’s a lot of confusion about justice in the Church today, and whether or not charitable giving, or generosity, should be considered an act of justice. The below screenshot is a good example of such common confusion:
Continue readingJoe Carter’s recent article on social justice encourages Christians “not to shrink from the term nor to allow the secular world to distort its biblical meaning.” He notes throughout the article that the term need not carry the politically progressive and liberal connotations for which it has recently gone viral; that it simply refers […]
Continue readingSome time ago, a friend asked for advice as he will be teaching for the first time this year. Here was my response: The root of my teaching philosophy is the shema. I say it like this: Teaching and discipling is fundamentally an invitation to love.
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