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I have on occasion been advised that I'm going about this cyberspace writing thing in all the wrong ways. People who read from the web or email aren't interested in whatever points you may be trying to make; they want to be entertained or made to feel like they're in…
The current issue of The Economist (October 10th) reports on a disturbing upward trend in job-related suicides among workers in certain sectors of the worldwide economy. For example, in America work-related suicides increased by 28% in just one year. The Economist argues that suicides are just the most dramatic evidence…
In his useful new book, The New Shape of World Chrisitianity, Mark Noll provides a stirring and instructive overview of the state of Christian faith in the world today, and explores the shape of its development over the past 200 years as in many ways mirroring (though not necessarily being…
To his credit, President Obama said that he did not feel he was worthy to be counted among the glorious company of those who have received the Nobel Prize for Peace. He was, of course, correct. He is not. Nominated for the prize two weeks into his presidency, and having…
I have a bit of an animus against contemporary worship songs, not all, but most, at least, most I've ever heard. My complaint takes three forms. First, I don't like the melodies, which you can't really sing without all manner of electronic accompaniment and drums. Second, I don't like the…
Attorney General Eric Holder announced yesterday that the Justice Department and Education Department will undertake a new effort to eradicate violence among teens in Chicago. Millions of dollars are being appropriated and all the latest hi-tech gadgetry will be installed in an effort to control gang violence among teens. The…
I've just come off one of the most inspiring and challenging conversations I've had in years. Talking with our son, Casey, who lives with his wife, Shelby, in Brooklyn, we encouraged one another with the fact of what God has given us and called us to be. Casey is an…
Was he ever! Or, rather, weren't they ever - 150 doctors, in fact, all gathered in their white coats at the White House to provide a prop for the President to salute his health care reform ideas one more time. The President insisted that these doctors wouldn't have been there…
As many are beginning to speculate that conservatism as a movement may be dead, conservatives are starting to tally up the evidence of what they hope will mean a resurgence of their views. Everyone is watching the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey as bell wethers for Congressional elections…
The political and economic air is charged with discussions of ethics. ACORN could well implicate a number of politicians in ethical wrongdoing. Harvard is revamping its business school courses in ethics - since a good many Harvard graduates made not such great news during the recent economic hard times. Presidential…
One of the most familiar, and most beloved, aspects of the Celtic Christian period is the artwork produced in the monastic centers of the 7th-9th centuries. Liturgical dishes and chalices, illuminated manuscripts, and stately carved crosses bear witness to an era in which art flourished in the service of the…
I remind myself that President Obama claims to be a Christian as I continue listening for anything remotely Christian in his manner of governance. Reading news journals lately this much has become clear: While Mr. Obama continues speaking, speaking, speaking - in town hall meetings, nationally-televised speeches, and anywhere anyone…
Anyone who doubts that the people of this country are still seeking something more, even seeking God, need only have watched the first episode of Ken Burns' new PBS series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." This first two-hour episode was bathed in the language of general revelation. Episode 1…
It was important to the writer of 2 Samuel that, in beginning the story of David and Bathsheba, he not-so-subtly imply that David was not where he should have been, and was not doing what kings are supposed to do (11.1). We couldn't say that David was dithering - he…