Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. (Psalm 146:5-7) It’s reassuring to start another week … More The With-God Life: “Do not put your trust in princes”
This week is my scheduled spring break, so I was expecting to be home, catching up on grading and writing a chapter in my Lindbergh book. But I didn’t expect that this break would last two weeks, nor that when classes resume on March 30th, they would be taught online through our Easter break. Such is life … More How Christian Colleges Are Responding to COVID-19
It gives me absolutely no satisfaction to know that my most-read post so far of 2019 was one explaining for a broader audience the debate over human sexuality in my home denomination. I wrote it in advance of the Evangelical Covenant Church’s annual meeting last June in Omaha. Then on the other side of that … More Another Congregation Leaves the Covenant Church
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 don’t know if the county fair is still the indispensable element of American democracy that an early 20th century editorial claimed it to be, but I sure do enjoy my annual visit to the Washington County Fair in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. My kids and I love seeing everything from blue ribbon-winning woodwork and photography … More The Future of Farming in America
I’ve only been on the campus of Gordon College once — and given what that school announced yesterday, I’m not sure I’ll have much reason to come back. I visited the suburban Boston Christian college in 2012, when it hosted the biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History, the leading society of Christian … More The “Next Chapter” in Christian Liberal Arts Education
Like many of you, I spent a long time watching yesterday’s terrible fire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. I’m still sorting out the feelings, trying to understand why I felt as sad as I did — knowing that others took it far harder… First, it’s always painful to see the world get a … More The Church Is (Not Just) a Building: Some Thoughts on Notre Dame
If you’re interested in church-state relations or war commemoration (or, like me, both), check out today’s Atlantic article on American Humanist Association v. American Legion. Being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court next week, the case has to do with a World War I memorial standing in a traffic circle in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. There’s a … More Should American War Memorials Use Explicitly Christian Symbols?
Every once in a while, leading higher ed publications like The Chronicle and Inside Higher Ed report on my particular sector, and I add those articles to my Saturday links wraps. But this week has seen an unusually large number of stories about Christian colleges in the mainstream media, so I thought I’d do a midweek collection of … More Christian Colleges in the News
As usual, I’m struggling to keep up with both blogging and end-of-semester grading, so I’m two days late to J.C. Derrick’s typically well-informed report for World Magazine that the boards of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) have endorsed what’s been called the “Fairness for All” compromise: seeking to advance … More Fairness for All: Is There a Compromise Between Religious Freedom and LGBT Rights?
The Pietist Schoolman 