archive of blog posts
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The Tyranny of the “American Dream”
Somewhere along the way, Christian theology got hijacked by Horatio Algiers’s concept of the “American dream.” And it’s pissing me off. Before teaching I never truly realized how much pressure American society and well-meaning adults (and kids themselves) place on young adults to “succeed,” to “find themselves,” to choose a good career long before most teens have…
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Microcosmic Generosity
Striking: The smallest parable of humankindness (or Divine-kindness), the gift, tumbles us into humility as easily as a wrestler throws an unsuspecting opponent onto the map. Henry Nouwen in his book Creative Ministry counsels ministers to take a break sometimes from the role of gift-giver (time, attention, instruction, aid) so the recipients themselves can taste the sweet joy of giving.…
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Always On My Mind
The great journey of humankind, I think, is to enter the Undiscovered Country of godly LOVE, to explore the height and depth and width, and to know that virtue which God claims as the core attribute of His being. Humans rarely find Real Love in this world, at least not early on. It seems to…
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A Culture of Questioning
Today’s Sunday School discussion about the “watchman” passage in Ezekiel 3 frustrated me. For one thing, Sunday School classes provoke some kind of odd warping of the time/space continuum. If the teacher is boring, time freezes in the presence of a black hole of active learning. Give me an interesting teacher, and time runs past…
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Review: The Shack
[Spoilers ahead!!] I’m still scratching my head about the hullabaloo. To hear people talk, you’d think The Shack was either the Holy Spirit incarnate or Satan Himself reduced to print form and corrupting the minds of American Christians one reader at a time. I couldn’t escape the Shack discussions … dear friends recommended it highly; church elders dissed it. …
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