Holy Saturday is the moment when darkness has descended and there is nothing to make you think, “It will be all right.” It won’t. It can’t be. The worst has occurred and nothing will ever be the same. That’s how it feels. If you have known, this last week or this last year, a moment … More Keeping Vigil: A Holy Saturday Reflection
They certainly doesn’t exhaust what I have to say about the life and legacy of G.W. Carlson (1943-2016), but given four or five minutes of his memorial service yesterday, these were the comments I chose to share. My first conversation with G.W. Carlson took place two weeks shy of fourteen years ago: I was in town for my … More “I Was a Stranger” (For GW)
I’ve already written one post criticizing the president of Liberty University for making imprudent comments at that school’s convocation. So I’ll leave it to others to say what’s on my mind about Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s introduction to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday: This would be hilarious if it weren't so counter to the mission of … More The Pastoral Challenge (and Opportunity) of Donald Trump
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Visiting another church yesterday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a sermon on the theme of abundance. (Part of a series, actually.) It’s territory too often ceded to the worst of the … More Life, and Abundantly: Gratitude in the New Year
On the eve of celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace, it’s been a bit dispiriting to read the comments section the last couple of days. But I thought I’d solicit some reader responses to a less controversial set of questions: What’s your favorite Christmas (or Advent) carol or other song? Why do you like it so … More Your Favorite Christmas Carols?
Someone who likes to blog about Christian higher education probably shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve only visited the “evangelical Harvard” once. Last fall I was invited to accompany our president and some of his cabinet to a meeting of the Christian College Consortium at Wheaton College, where I got to share ten minutes’ worth of reflections on how … More Wheaton, Islam, and the Christ-Centered University
Here… • Rest in peace, Stacey Hunter Hecht (1968-2015). • It’s because of colleagues like Stacey that I know that Christian higher ed can do much, much better than Jerry Falwell, Jr. • And Loren Swartzdruber’s response to Falwell made me wish that his university had not parted ways with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. • Speaking … More That Was The Week That Was
In the first four months of this year, three of my closest kith and kin were diagnosed with breast cancer. As we near the end of 2015, I’m happy to report that two of them are doing very well. But yesterday afternoon, my friend Stacey Hunter Hecht lost her battle. I’m still in enough shock that I’m not … More On Friendship (For Stacey)
The first of two guest posts this week comes from our friend Jared Burkholder, chair of the History and Political Science Department at Grace College. The rhetoric that has surrounded the recent controversy in the CCCU and the departure of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University has underscored, at least for me, the way Anabaptist … More How Peacemaking Helps Frame the Context of Anabaptism, Sexuality, and Higher Education
Recently, Devin Manzullo-Thomas guest-blogged about Myron Augsburger, who as president of what’s now Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and then as president of what’s now the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), brought an Anabaptist perspective to evangelical higher education. Augsburger retired from the CCCU just over twenty years ago, but just weighed in at Mennonite World Review on Eastern Mennonite’s decision … More Myron Augsburger on Same-Sex Marriage and the CCCU
The Pietist Schoolman 