About 3,000 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, hundreds of state workers are seeking similar exemptions. And an Arkansas hospital has been swamped with so many such requests from employees that it is apparently calling their bluff. Religious objections,Continue reading “Shot or Not to Be Shot”
Category Archives: Reference
A Prostitute’s Honor
As the people of Israel prepared to enter and settle in the PromisedLand, Joshua sent two spies out to get information about the largefortified cities that would resist them. In Jericho the spies wereassisted by a prostitute named Rahab. Some scholars have notedthat her clientel must have been officials and nobles from theking’s court, becauseContinue reading “A Prostitute’s Honor”
A Quick History’s View of What It Is to Be a Human Being
In our day, most attempts to understand what it means to be human do not begin with Scripture but rather proceed from a worldly perspective. The most common definition for a human being—or for what it means to be human—is the scientific name Homo sapiens, meaning “wise man.” This term, in distinguishing man from allContinue reading “A Quick History’s View of What It Is to Be a Human Being”
Must They Suffer
It seems like I have been around a lot of death lately. Some people have died far too young. Others have died after lingering on seemingly far too long. While I absolutely know and trust that God is sovereign over death, His timing sometimes seems suspect. I have been asked a few times recently whyContinue reading “Must They Suffer”
Good News for a Weary Generation
As you’re trying to make sense of what’s happening in our culture and how we should respond as Christians, I highly recommend Thaddeus Williams’s Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask About Social Justice. In the book, Williams contrasts biblical ideas of justice, which he calls “Social Justice A,” with the currentContinue reading “Good News for a Weary Generation”
Their Not Asking; Their Listening
The data didn’t make sense. The American Bible Society (ABS) and Barna Group researchers looked at the results from 1,000 cellphone interviews asking people about their engagement with Scripture. The numbers seemed to show more people were reading the Bible—a lot more. But nothing else had dramatically changed. There were not more people praying, orContinue reading “Their Not Asking; Their Listening”
The Church Must Do Better
I grew up in the church. Some of my favorite memories come from the time I spent there — Sunday school, AWANA, VBS, youth group, and fellowship meals. For hours we would play hide-and-seek, run up and down hallways, and occasionally sneak a peak at the baptismal pool hidden under the front stage. I wasContinue reading “The Church Must Do Better”
The God Particle
The reaction among some atheists to the recent, remarkable empirical confirmation by scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) of the existence of the Higgs boson (AKA “the God particle”) is bewildering. The fact that nonscientists would take this as a disproof of God or as another victory in the warfare between scienceContinue reading “The God Particle”
Quick Economics Lessons for Christians
The Term: The Economy (aka Gross Domestic Product) What It Means: Humans have seemingly unlimited wants and needs—but a limited number of resources. This is known as scarcity, and it’s the fundamental problem in economics. The primary way we solve this problem is through market exchanges or transactions: you make something I want or need,Continue reading “Quick Economics Lessons for Christians”
I Am Politically Ambivalent
Many Christians today are struggling with the question of whether, or to what extent, they should get involved in the messy world of American politics. This is a dilemma we feel most acutely whenever election season rolls around—and especially when the choices on offer appear far from ideal. A new book, Compassion (&) Conviction: The ANDContinue reading “I Am Politically Ambivalent”
