What I think. What I know. What I think I know.
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dueling carols
Yesterday we sang two Christmas carols with opposing views on redemption. Joy to the World rightly proclaims the goodness of creation, the tragic destruction of sin (“no more let sins and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground”), and God’s plan to save the entire earth, “far as the curse is found.” This is my…
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compassion without compromise
Another extremely helpful book that came out this fall is from my friend, Adam Barr, and his friend, Ron Citlau. Compassion Without Compromise wisely and biblically guides Christians through the minefield of issues surrounding homosexuality. Just about any scenario that you will encounter is addressed in this book, and new ones that arise are handled…
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ordinary
Now that the semester is over, I’m digging into the pile of books I’ve been longing to read. Yesterday I enjoyed Michael Horton’s new book, Ordinary. This delightful reminder of the value of a normal Christian life covers one of the points I make in my forthcoming book, Becoming Worldly Saints: Can You Serve Jesus…
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latest funnies
The good news is that my grading is done for the semester. The bad news is that the final papers only gave me three bloopers to add to my list. I’m now up to 75. Next week I will post the all-time best, as a Christmas gift and to give my students something to shoot…
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do dogs have souls?
Today’s New York Times reports that Pope Francis has once again said something controversial. He consoled a boy whose dog had died by saying, “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” The Times added, “Theologians cautioned that Francis had spoken casually,…
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pace and preaching
My family watched “Father of the Bride,” the Steve Martin sentimental comedy from 1991. The movie was still funny, but less than I remembered. Mostly because it seemed slow. Some scenes lingered too long, without changing camera perspectives. Dinner conversation was reflective and took time to develop—true to life but a bit hard to watch.…
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students write the funniest things
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the bloopers that make grading bearable, if not outright fun. These aren’t the funniest I’ve received (I’m up to 72), but they are the most recent. I’ll receive more in the coming weeks, which I’ll post by the end of the year. I’ve italicized the key words and given my…
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what can brown do for you?
I don’t have anything to add to the national conversation on race, but here’s how I see it. I don’t think I truly appreciate the cloud of suspicion and harassment that black men experience. This fall one of my students, a large black man, was late for class. When I asked where he was, he…
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ETS 2014
The best part of this year’s meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society was its location. Over two feet of snow fell on my driveway while I enjoyed stimulating conversations by pools lined with palm trees. All things considered though, I’d rather live in West Michigan than San Diego. Our beaches are more beautiful, our lawns…
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contingency
Our seminary family is pleading with God for the life of Kawika Hughes, a baby born last week to our student, Keoni, and his wife Andrea. Kawika was taken five weeks early because he came down with the enterovirus. Last Tuesday doctors were giving him no chance of survival, but by Wednesday afternoon his kidney…
Mike Wittmer 