I’m glad there’s a national holiday that forces me to contemplate my desperate need for an attitude of gratitude for a whole month in advance of it. I do so adore the sights and smells of a Thanksgiving meal spread out on the dining room table. Or at least I love my anticipatory mental aggrandizement … Continue reading Called to Gratitude

Benjamin Franklin didn’t actually suggest that the turkey should be the bird depicted on the Great Seal of the United States of America. But he took a little comfort that the eagle on the seal looked like a turkey. Writing to his daughter, Franklin lectures about the shady ethical character of the eagle: For my … Continue reading A Respectable and Courageous Bird

We're at a cultural moment in the American Church where we have staunchly conservative Christians at loggerheads with an adolescent Gay Christian movement. And that conflict extends to conservative criticism of the way in which the subset of celibate gay Christians (who hold to traditional biblical sexual ethics) are even allowed to express themselves and … Continue reading War Horse Begets Unicorn Colt

"Messiah" (Hebrew: meshiyakh) or "Christ" (Greek: christos) means the Anointed One. It’s a reference to an ancient initiation rite of pouring oil (along with the authoritative words of institution) which formally appoints a man to an office. In the Old Testament, there are three offices into which chosen persons are anointed by God to serve … Continue reading The Threefold Christ

There are two way in which one can question the Eternal Sonship of the Person of Christ as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity prior to his incarnation. The first way is to join forces with heretics throughout ecclesiastical history and say Jesus is not the eternal Son, because he didn’t exist before his … Continue reading Eternal Son or Eternal Word

As I've long insisted, beauty is objective. It's instilled from a transcendent source. Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is in the nature of the beholden. And as I've also argued, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty are interchangeable and co-informative qualities, because they're all attributes of the one true God. Thus, they're … Continue reading Aesthetic Criticism

I consider the typical pop evangelical (mega)church of 500 to 5,000 regular attenders and observe the man at the pulpit. Er, the man at the barstool on stage. He gives the message most Sunday mornings, but he isn't otherwise particularly engaged in the lives of anyone in the congregation. He’s largely an unknown in his … Continue reading The Business of Actual Pastoring