Unbroken: The Meaning of Conversion

Whatever concerns I have about how Angelina Jolie brings Louie Zamperini’s story to the screen, I’m less interested in discouraging movie-going than in encouraging book-buying. If you haven’t read it yet, I heartily recommend Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, based on extensive primary source research and numerous interviews with Zamperini (who died earlier this year, four after the book came … More Unbroken: The Meaning of Conversion

CFH 2014: 25 Years of the Bebbington Quadrilateral

Not long after our panel on social media concluded, the Smothers Theater at Pepperdine University began to fill in, as Conference on Faith and History members gathered for what was clearly the most prominent (or, at least, most-tweeted) concurrent session of the meeting: Closing the afternoon with a discussion of David Bebbington's work on the … More CFH 2014: 25 Years of the Bebbington Quadrilateral

Headed to the Conference on Faith and History!

Later today I’ll be flying to southern California to join fellow members of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH) at its biennial meeting, held this year on the lovely campus of Pepperdine University. Now, I’d be excited simply to exchange the weather of St. Paul, MN for that of Malibu, CA for a couple days, … More Headed to the Conference on Faith and History!

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?

From this past June: my three-part attempt to explain my little-known, fast-growing denomination, and why it’s so distinctive. This past June I flew from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Chicago, where I represented my congregation at Gather ’14, the annual meeting of our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church. “What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?” at least one person just asked. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?

Birmingham Revolution: How to Silence a Prophetic Voice

For years after King’s death, many white Christians continued to eye him with suspicion, even as families like mine proudly displayed his portrait on our walls. Today, in an era when all fifty U.S. states now observe the King holiday and a resplendent monument to the man stands in our nation’s capital, it’s difficult to … More Birmingham Revolution: How to Silence a Prophetic Voice

That Was The Week That Was

Here… • What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church? Answer #2: “an immigrant church,” both rooted in Swedish-American history and being reshaped into a truly multiethnic body. • I started a new series on the newest book from ECC communications director Edward Gilbreath, about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” …There and Everywhere • We’re starting … More That Was The Week That Was

Birmingham Revolution: MLK’s “Great Epistle to the Church”

It feels a bit eery to carry a book about Martin Luther King, Jr. around the city where he died, but during a trip to Memphis last weekend, I had the pleasure of reading Edward Gilbreath’s Birmingham Revolution: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Epic Challenge to the Church. It’s given me plenty to think about, enough that I want … More Birmingham Revolution: MLK’s “Great Epistle to the Church”