Features
Pope Francis: I’m OK, You’re OK
It doesn’t help that Francis is so uninterested in the whole subject of making disciples that he doesn’t even listen to himself when he talks.
What to Learn from Mark Galli
Timothy Dalrymple is defending Galli’s words, and insisting that “the conversation must continue.” We agree, just not in the way we think either would expect.
Latest Church Gossip…
We lump gossip in with cute human foibles like double dipping a chip in the communal salsa.
Michelle Wolf and the End of the World
I came across something ghastly on Twitter a couple of days ago. It is a short clip of a comedienne and TV personality whom I have often run across on the many and varied British quiz shows that I sometimes watch on Sunday evenings when I am trying to fall asleep...
The Martyrs and Missiological Damage
It is no secret that the Church of England is in trouble. Several years ago, I likened the contemporary English Church to the Episcopal Church in 1999. That was my first year as an M.Div student at Virginia Theological Seminary. I remember thinking at the time that...
Creature Comfort
There’s a kind of pathos in this, like a loser lusting after an unavailable love.
They Will Know Us By Our Ability To Forgive
I've just finished Douglas Murray’s The Madness of Crowds. It is so good that I’m turning round and picking The Strange Death of Europe as soon as my new credit comes due. All the usual—I don’t agree with everything he says—caveating aside (which, honestly, is so...
What Listening Really Means
Social media reactions to the piece I wrote objecting to Dr. McGowin's misrepresentation of Dr. Grudem have been predictable. I will not link to the comments and responses here because most of them are from colleagues I know and admire. The word "listening,"...
Building the Church
It’s no secret that the Episcopal Church is dying. No walls, no borders, no outcasts, she boasts, and if nothing is done she will be able to add, nobody. The steep numerical decline of the Episcopal Church is comparable to that of the other theologically liberal...
A Special Advent-Christmas Mission Field
We’re in a time of year for singing out the glory and goodness of God for people not expecting it or expected to receive it.
It Can’t Happen Here
That's the title of a Sinclair Lewis novel about the coming of fascism to America. The Nobel Prize winning writer contended that, if it could happen in civilized Europe, it could happen in the United States as well. Here's one form it will take: The Evangelical...
The Shaming of Wayne Grudem
Dr. Wayne Grudem once believed and taught that physical abuse was not, in itself, grounds for divorce. Recently, he has changed his mind. I welcome the change and have long believed unrepentant chronic abuse constitutes an abandonment of the marriage by a...
My Imago Dei Is So Awesome
Providence has been kind this week and brought into my way several ridiculous creeds and prayers written probably by committees of people who can’t remember why they’ve been lugging themselves into those old, crumbling…what are they called? Ah, “church” buildings all...
Jesus was Jewish? Who Knew?
Before reading the New Testament for the first time at the age of 18, I didn't know Jesus was Jewish. Thing is, I grew up Jewish myself. I didn't know anything about Christianity, except for Christmas carols. What's this guy's excuse? From the Jerusalem Post: A local...
Louie Clay Has Died
A funny thing happened while we were fighting each other. We became friends.
First Amendment repealed in New York State
I can't tell you how happy I am that Stand Firm is back in business. Partly it's because we have a great team of writers and thinkers here, and interacting with them is a joy. Partly, it's because as Gandalf declared, "There are many powers in the world, for good or...
How to be a Good Person
It’s not just me, I have confirmed my impression by complaining about it personally to everyone I know. It’s true, some members of the American family—lots actually—this year put up their Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. And, though I judged them...
Christ the King
“I’ve accepted Jesus as my Savior but I just don’t think I’m ready to accept him as my Lord.” Perhaps you’ve heard someone say this or something like it. Perhaps you’ve said it yourself. Beneath the comment lies a particularly bifurcated and uniquely American...
GQ’s Benign Masculinity, Transcending the “Binary,” and the Love of God
As part of our adult discipleship hour at Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant, I have the privilege of leading a weekly cultural analysis of contemporary news and events. I call it the “Weekend Review,” and am grateful for the Rev. Dr. Albert Mohler’s inspiration via his...
3 Reasons We Still Can’t Be Friends
I have watched with interest over the last two weeks as a small Anglican tempest has brewed in the small Anglican teapot. Anyone who is unfamiliar with our old “trouble” will probably want to pass along by on the other side of the road, but some of you might want to...
On the Radar
Meet Marvel’s First Transgender Hero: 12-Year-Old ‘Mighty’ Rebekah
She was trans by age 8, when her mother outlined the LGBTQ acronym after a search for gender-nonconforming bathing suits.
I Spent Years Searching for Magic—I Found God Instead
I wanted to outrun the Nothing. And there was nothing I would not have sacrificed—friendships, relationships, the blood from the heel of my foot—to get it.