Category: Christian Worldview

  • doing good in an evil world

    doing good in an evil world

    Here is my latest entry for Our Daily Journey, perhaps inspired by recent events. Let me know if you see something that needs changed. Special thanks to Brenda DeVries whose conversation pointed me in this direction. Read Mark 12:35-44 “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who…

  • random political thoughts

    random political thoughts

    Everyone I know—Christian or not—is absolutely horrified by the night club shooting in Orlando. Besides one preacher in California who of course made the news, all people stand with all victims of gun violence. But some tweets and blogposts have implied it’s a struggle for Christians to love those who were tragically killed. There is…

  • hard and soft

    hard and soft

    This morning I told my children about the government’s instructions concerning school locker and bathrooms. My junior high daughter said, “That’s dumb.” I agreed, but wondered how to begin to explain why to a culture that is quickly losing the categories of male and female. Here is my initial attempt. Life requires opposites to get…

  • boycotts

    boycotts

    The main point of my last post was that our disintegrating culture is going to need scapegoats. This has happened before. At the end of the second century Tertullian said the Romans blamed Christians for “every public disaster.” “If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not send its…

  • on Target

    on Target

    I understand the righteous anger that prompts Christians to join a public boycott of Target for saying men and women can use each other’s restrooms, but I think this move hurts us both in perception and reality. 1. Perception. As our culture steams toward what may be its tipping point, let’s remember that sin doesn’t…

  • How to Talk to Terrorists

    How to Talk to Terrorists

    Sunday night at church I met a man who is a former missionary in Muslim countries and is now living in Grand Rapids. He teaches math at our community college and remains in contact with his indigenous brothers and sisters in Iraq, Syria, and Mali. He said several of his Christian friends have been killed…

  • transgender thoughts

    transgender thoughts

    Some thoughts about last night’s 60 Minutes segment on Schuyler Bailar, a transgender swimmer at Harvard. 1. The episode contained none of 60 Minutes’ usual pushback. There were no alternate voices. No one wondering whether Schuyler had made a mistake. Instead, the segment praised Schuyler for sacrificing victories with the women’s team for back of…

  • homosexuality and the church

    homosexuality and the church

    I don’t enjoy writing on this topic, but I’ve heard recurring questions from Christians that seem important to address. Here are four questions, and what I think is a helpful response. I’ll answer two today and two more next week. 1. Why must the church make homosexuality an issue? It hasn’t. The culture has made…

  • endorsement

    endorsement

    Many of us are dismayed by Jerry Falwell Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump, especially his remark that Trump’s life reflects the teachings of Christ. As far as I can tell, the main thing that Jesus and Donald have in common is neither thinks he needs forgiveness. Their main difference? Jesus doesn’t think he’s Donald. I…

  • do Christians and Jews worship the same God?

    do Christians and Jews worship the same God?

    This question is more complicated than yesterday’s question about Islam because Christianity arose from within Judaism. The apostles claimed Jesus was Israel’s long awaited Messiah, the promised Deliverer who came to keep Israel’s covenants and save her from her enemies. The early apologists said Christians were the “third race,” the climax of both Greek philosophy…