Having spent an energizing Reformation Sunday morning at an Evangelical Covenant church, I’m looking forward to visiting a Lutheran church this coming Sunday to teach the history of evangelicalism If you’re in the Twin Cities, join us at Incarnation Lutheran in Shoreview, MN for the Kairos Forum — offered both 8:45am and 10:05am. Here’s the … More Next Sunday’s Adult Class: Who’s an Evangelical?
This week I mourned a friend who died too young, wrote about the 100th birthday of “Western civ,” preached and taught for Reformation Sunday, and interviewed a college football coach who sees his work as a ministry. Elsewhere: • I’ll post the full text of my sermon (on Psalm 46) at The Anxious Bench this Tuesday, but … More That Was The Week That Was
About thirty years ago, I got to know a fellow middle schooler named Kimberly Weaver. She was both smarter and funnier than me, and while we went to different schools, I was glad that church gave us twice-weekly opportunities to connect. But she went to college at Bethel, while I headed east. Coincidentally, I joined … More RIP Kimberly Weaver Olson
This morning we recorded our first live episode of The 252: an interview with Steve Johnson, for 31 years the head football coach at his alma mater, Bethel University. Steve took time out of preparing for Saturday’s game at Concordia College in order to tell us about his childhood as a Cubs fan and pastor’s kid … More Thursday’s Podcast: The Ministry of a Football Coach
After spending quite a bit of time in various pulpits last year, I’ve had a nice long break from writing sermons. But that’ll end soon: in addition to a Bethel Chapel talk coming up on November 8th, I’ll be preaching and teaching this Sunday, October 27th, at First Covenant Church in St. Paul, MN. They’ll … More Preaching and Teaching This Reformation Sunday
I wrote about Ethiopian Pentecostals like the new Nobel Peace Prize winner and debates in this country over religious liberty for Christian colleges. Elsewhere: • For a more serious case of a religious group being persecuted by the state, read this firsthand account of life for Uyghur Muslims imprisoned in Chinese “reeducation” camps. • According … More That Was The Week That Was
Okay, let’s talk about Beto O’Rourke. Last Thursday night, at a Democratic presidential candidates forum on LGBT issues, CNN host Don Lemon asked the former Texas congressman whether “religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities—should… lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage.” O’Rourke answered: Yes. There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax … More On Christian Colleges and Tax Exemptions
I blogged about Harry Potter and history and podcast about the reading list for our new sports history course. Elsewhere… • Next up on my personal reading list is Kate Bowler’s The Preacher’s Wife. One finding she previewed for New York Times readers: “…conservative women gain considerable influence without institutional power, and liberal women gain institutional … More That Was The Week That Was
On today’s new episode of The 252, Chris Moore and I talked through some of the books and articles we’ll be assigning next spring in our History and Politics of Sports course at Bethel University. Our basic text will be Richard Davies’ Sports in American Life, but Chris also suggested adopting Victor Cha’s analysis of the politics of … More Wednesday’s Podcast: A Sports Reading List
What follows is the text of a talk I gave yesterday evening at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. Thanks to Ben Cater, who directs general education and the Humanities Honors program at Point Loma, for inviting me to share some thoughts on the value of the Christian liberal arts. He had enjoyed … More The Value of the Christian Liberal Arts
The Pietist Schoolman 