Gone Fishin’

Well, not fishin’ — but I will be spending the long weekend at by the side of a lake, with little or no Internet access. So we’ll give That Was The Week That Was a break tomorrow, and indeed, I’m tempted to use Labor Day to usher in a slowing down of my blogging pace. Not the total, month-long … More Gone Fishin’

The Christian College Baseball All-Stars: Position Players

Yesterday the pitchers; today the position players for your Christian college baseball all-stars! Starting Lineup 1. *Dee Gordon (SS, Southeastern) 2. Freddy Sanchez (3B, Dallas Baptist) 3. Dale Alexander (1B, Milligan) 4. †Ben Zobrist (RF, Olivet Nazarene and Dallas Baptist) 5. *Stephen Vogt (C, Azusa Pacific) 6. *Larry Sheets (DH, Eastern Mennonite) 7. Lew Ford (LF, Dallas … More The Christian College Baseball All-Stars: Position Players

The Christian College Baseball All-Stars: Pitchers

In Monday afternoon’s post on Christian college alumni I observed that those schools seem to do surprisingly well — given their typically small sizes — at placing former students in professional sports. One sport in particular: In fact, you could build at least a mediocre major league baseball roster with nothing but players who spent at least a year or … More The Christian College Baseball All-Stars: Pitchers

New Interview on Pietism and Higher Education

Maybe some of you appear in the news media all the time. I don’t. So in a week that’s already seen me quoted in Christianity Today‘s story about the troubling situation at North Greenville University, it’s a bit overwhelming also to see an interview with me appear on the website of my denomination’s magazine, The Covenant Companion. Reporter Stan … More New Interview on Pietism and Higher Education

The Body of Christ

If you offered me fifteen minutes to share what’s at the heart of my belief as a Christian and how that shapes my understanding of education, I think this is the best answer I could give. It’s the text of the convocation address I delivered yesterday in the opening chapel of the 2015-2016 academic year at Bethel University. Thanks to … More The Body of Christ

Who Are the Most Surprising Christian College Alumni?

Until he died last night, I had no idea that horror film director Wes Craven had graduated from Wheaton College. (He discussed his fundamentalist Baptist upbringing and his decision to flee from it in a 2011 interview with the New York Times Magazine.) Of course, this got me wondering: who else would I be surprised to learn … More Who Are the Most Surprising Christian College Alumni?

The Big Ten

It was quite an August — twice as many of you came here as in a typical month. Here were the ten most popular posts: Standing with the CCCU Mennonites, Evangelicals, and the Sexuality Debate in Christian Higher Ed (Devin Manzullo-Thomas) Quick Thoughts on Union University Withdrawing from the CCCU A Hopeful Vision for Christian … More The Big Ten

Look Who’s in Books and Culture!

I couldn’t quite maintain the standards of academic decorum when I saw that the newest issue of Books & Culture included my first piece for the best Christian cultural review around. The sports expression “Act like you’ve been there before” comes to mind… But hey, it’s the 20th anniversary issue! And my name is even on the cover! And they … More Look Who’s in Books and Culture!