Category: Culture

  • A Seminary Student is a Sinner, Gasp!

    I just came across an article about a male Gordon-Conwell student (the seminary I attended) who allegedly broke into a female student’s dorm room and setup a video camera with the intent of filming her.  You can read about it on the Boston Herald or the Salem News sites.  I feel badly for this young woman.…

  • Immigration Reform and Jesus

    Over the last few years, the number of immigrants coming to the United States from Mexico has become an increasingly contentious political issue.  Politicians have flirted with comprehensive immigration reform at times, but the explosive nature of the issue in the public’s mind has mostly kept politicians from doing anything substantial at a Federal level.…

  • A Virtual Spouse

    I just saw an incredible story on CNN about a man who married a made up, virtual girlfriend!  In the video, we learn about a young Japanese man, Sal, who actually went through with a marriage ceremony with his virtual girlfriend on his Nintendo DS.  He admits that the wedding was done tongue-in-cheek, but from…

  • Leadership In Community

    As a church planter in a community that is attempting to be more relational and organic, Parker Palmer’s words on leadership really strike a chord.  He argues that it’s in the less rigidly defined community that leadership is most important not in the structured and hierarchical system: Unfortunately, our idea of leadership has been deformed…

  • The Promising Pleasures of Porn

    In a soon to be released interview with Playboy magazine, John Mayer says that his “biggest dream is to write pornography.”  He says a lot of other thing in the interview that are unsavory and for which he’s taken a lot of heat.  This statement however mostly just gets an eye-role.  It’s seen as an…

  • Good Christians are Called Atheists

    There’s often a lot of talk by Christians lamenting the non-religious nature of our government, but what I find ironic is that the early Christians faced criticism from the government lamenting that they weren’t religious!  The Roman Government repeatedly called Christians atheists and even killed them for it.  In fact, the first martyrdom recorded in…

  • Blessed are those who bust human traffickers

    Last night on my way back from Denver I had the privilege of sitting next to a cop.  This individual was working on a case aimed at arresting some people engaged in sex-trafficking.  She shared some stories, and she talked about the anger she feels when she hears the stories of abuse that these girls…

  • Stewart Nails Olberman and why Ad Hominem is Too Easy

    In last night’s show of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart spent a segment laying into Keith Olberman, host of MSNBC’s Countdown. He is the liberal equivalent to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, and he used to be a host of ESPN’s Sports Center.  He’s known for his quick wit, fast-talking diatribes and punchy rhetoric.  I don’t…

  • MLK Holiday Breakfast

    We went to the MLK Holiday Breakfast this past Monday.  This was the 20th year of the event, and this year’s speaker was the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery.  The 88-year-old Dr. Lowery has been a pillar in the civil rights movement, a friend of Dr. King, and he delivered the Benediction at President Obama’s Inauguration. I…

  • Brit Hume on Tiger and Pluralism

    This past Sunday on Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume offered some commentary and advice for Tiger Woods in the wake of his scandal.  I have no comment about Tiger.  Brit suggested that Tiger should become a Christian because it offers a better path for redemption than Buddhism, which allegedly Tiger Woods adheres to.  Hume suggested…