Contemporary Culture

By now you’ve heard reports about the reprehensible and racist comments of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. This is a news story that now transcends sports, with repeated calls for boycotts of Clipper games, demands for punishment for Sterling, and even...

At the outset of the American Revolution, many of the early colonials didn’t struggle to connect their faith with their moral obligation—as they understood it—to secede from England through war. With a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other, the American militia...

In thirteen years since graduating high school a lot has changed, not just in my own life but in the life of America. We’ve gone from having President Bush to President Obama. I’ve gone from being single to being happily married, graduating seminary and leading...

When I attended government schools, we said the pledge of allegiance, which was about the only time I heard about God in school—“one nation, under God.” I did hear the name “Jesus Christ” once, but only when the gym coach stubbed his toe. Teachers weren’t allowed to...

Recently, I’ve written quite a lot on the Gosnell case. In my opinion it’s one of the watershed cases of our generation as it has opened many people’s eyes to include myself regarding the horror of abortion. Before this case I believed abortion was wrong but I was...

The Bible never promised that sharing the gospel and making disciples would be easy. What we are told is that in all ways we should represent Christ with a love for others that doesn’t call into question our integrity or compromise the message. Even further, 1 Peter...

A recent Fox New poll shows voters believe a pro-abortion bias in the media is behind the poor coverage of the Kermit Gosnell murder trial. Most national media outlets are either ignoring the trial of the late-term abortion practitioner or providing very little...

Cultural engagement is essentially the objective of gospel preaching and the ministry of apologetics. Ultimately both are about conversion, seeing lives conformed to the image of Christ in terms of justification as well as sanctification. Today, a great deal of the...

Today, I posted this on social media, “I think the Gosnell case is going to fundamentally change the way abortion is not only talked about in our culture, but also how its argued.” That statement generated quite a lot of conversation and I told people engaged in the...

Introduction When I first graduated high school, I decided I wanted to study philosophy. One of the first classes I took at a community college in the Seattle, Washington area was moral philosophy. In that class, I heard the world’s take on every moral and social...

Being a follower of Jesus seems like an easy enough way to live. How difficult is it, for example, to obey the Great Commandment and simply love your neighbor as yourself? We know the answer to that. Fortunately, a life devoted to Christ and his mission does not find...

The Peace and Love Hippie Hostel is one of Paris’ most budget-friendly, a dingy sanctuary for under-showered backpackers. It was there that I met Derrick. Derrick didn’t believe in organized religion. Derrick didn’t believe in unorganized religion. He didn’t believe...

The problem at the heart of living in a media saturated world is that, like everything in life, media is made up of truth and lies interwoven into a complicated web. All of life is a mixture of grace and idolatry. No created thing is so good as to only be full of...

I wanted to wait at least a week to write about my own response to last week's tragic shooting in Aurora. Partly because I can't even begin to imagine the horror, shock and (just now, I'm sure) onsetting grief of the families who lost loved ones. Like many of you, I...

Introduction Yesterday June 24th, 2011, the state of New York became the sixth state in the United States to legalize gay marriage. The New York Senate passed the bill earlier yesterday evening (June 24th, 2011) and then Governor Andrew Cumo signed it into law. New...

1. Evangelism is for trained ministry only. This is by far the most expressed comment concerning evangelism. For some reason believers think that only the pastor, or a trained vocational minister, should be involved in evangelism. However, the Word of God (i.e. 1 Cor....

Last night President Obama announced that the United States Military- specifically the U.S. Navy Seals team six raided the house of Osma Bin Laden and killed him. Before I get into my remarks on this issue, I want to preface them by giving you a brief history of my...