Category: Cultural Issues
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Choose LIFE
Like many conservative Evangelical congregations around the country, our church recognized yesterday as Sanctity of Life Sunday. It seems only appropriate. We live in a culture that no longer values human life, except, perhaps, as a disposable comodity. This is evident by not only the continued tragedy of abortion but also the growing, or at…
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Haitian Hope
The eyes of America are turned toward Haiti, and hearts are going out to that poorest country in the Western Hemishpere, too. Like many, it is with great interest I am watching the news and hearing of all the tangible aid that is going to the people who were tragically impacted by that 7.0 eathquake. I am glad to…
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Minutemen for Haiti
While hearts were breaking in Tennessee on Tuesday, because a football coach bailed and jumped onto a Trojan ship, lives were being shattered in Haiti. It is amazing how such news puts things in proper perspective. During this week friends and church members have asked if there is anything they can do to provide relief to…
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Navigating the Narrow Path Between the Gospel and Politics
It is a constant tension for me. How do I juggle my personal political views with my responsibility to remain faithful to the Gospel? How do I strive to keep the Gospel message pure and not pollute my teaching with political biases interjected? It is a difficult dilemma. Many political issues have moral roots, and can be informed by…
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Glory Story: The Joel Osteen Phenomena
I’ve never quite understood the attraction. His words melt like cotton candy. Yet he has amassed the largest church and largest television audience in the United States. Sure, he may be a nice guy, but what is the allure of Joel Osteen? Like him or loathe him, Osteen’s influence is pervasive. I am frequently asked…
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Rapture Ready
OUCH! Yesterday I started reading Daniel Radosh’s Rapture Ready!: Adventures In The Parallel Universe Of Christian Pop-Culture. It is an outsiders observations of the Christian subculture. And the author really nails his intended target. Back in my younger, athletic playing, days from time to time I would take a hit right on a muscle that would somehow simultaneously make me…
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What About Gay Marriage?
Anger at the disproportionate number of African Americans who voted for California’s same-sex marriage ban “has been widely noted”, says Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe. But “for sheer hatefuless” the “hatemongering” directed against Mormons for pushing the ballot measure can’t be beat. (See The Week for full article.) I’ve watched the news with…
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Hi Ho, Hi Ho… It’s Off to the Polls I Go
Call me old fashioned, but I don’t open presents before Christmas morning. And I don’t vote before election day. That’s not a point of pride. It’s just what I do. I am comfortable that way. I go off the the polls this morning comforted by these thoughts: 1. I am confident about the “class” of both…
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Why I Am NOT Part of the Religious Right
One would think I’d be a good prospect to be a part of the Religious Right. 1. I am a conservative Evangelical pastor. 2. I first identified my political identity as a Republican in the 2nd Grade. (My teacher at Cedar Road Elementary School, Mrs. Manning, wanting to teach us a little about Civics, listed several candidates…
