If you’ve been wondering why this blog has been so quiet this far into 2022, it’s partly because I’ve been working hard on a project that came to mind at the end of 2021 and came to fruition yesterday. Last December I enjoyed several entries in The Advent Project, a multi-media devotional from the Center … More Centered on Jesus: A Lenten Devotional from the Faculty of Bethel University
This week I invited readers to help me launch a new book project, opened a Lenten devotional series from the Conference on Faith and History and recorded a podcast about the National Anthem and athlete protests. Elsewhere: • For Democratic voters in New York, complained one Slate columnist, “celebrating the idea of the competent blue-state governor … More That Was The Week That Was
One of my favorite projects in recent years reached fruition last December, when Baylor University Press published Faith and History, a devotional featuring reflections by 40-some members of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH). I know that many of you picked up a copy, and I’ve heard enough positive feedback to feel like we … More Our Free Lenten Devotional Series on Faith and History
My favorite, strangest, most intermittent podcast dropped an episode today. That’s right, for the first time since January, there’s new Nothing Rhymes with Gehrz to enjoy! As Sam Mulberry and I continued my quixotic quest to find a rhyme (in English) for my odd last name, we riffed on six words, most having some kind of COVID … More Nothing Rhymes with Gehrz (COVID Edition)
This week I paid tribute to my boss, reflected on Charles Lindbergh’s interest in primitive societies, and talked about college basketball and athletic labor. Elsewhere: • David Brooks offered one of the rarest spectacles in 21st century American political discourse: a pundit who was convinced by others’ arguments to change his mind on a controversial … More That Was The Week That Was
It’s not a full Lenten fast, but I’m going to keep this blog quiet for the next forty days. You can find me doing my usual Tuesday post at The Anxious Bench — this morning’s considered a surprisingly religious part of the country (no, not Utah or the South) — and I might do a bit of … More See You at Easter!
I’m very happy to announce that Come Back to Jesus, our free Lenten devotional, is now available for download! This lower-resolution version (1 MB) should work well for tablets and smaller devices; if you’d like to print a hard copy, you can download a higher-res option (31 MB) from Scribd. My Pietist Option co-author Mark Pattie and I each contributed … More Come Back to Jesus: A Lenten Devotional by the Readers and Authors of The Pietist Option
If I don’t write a whole lot around here for the next four weeks, it’s partly because I’m busy editing Come Back to Jesus: A Lenten Devotional from the Readers and Authors of The Pietist Option. Submissions have started to come in from the 38 readers who signed up to join Mark and me in writing daily devotions … More How You Can Request a Free Copy of Our Forthcoming Lenten Devotional
So I’ve had an idea for a brief sequel to The Pietist Option. But Mark and I will need the help of our readers to bring it to fruition. Tentatively, we’re calling it: It’s always seemed appropriate that we’d extend the themes of a book on Pietism through so pietistic a genre of spiritual writing as the … More How You Can Help Us Write a Sequel to The Pietist Option
“Dust you are and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe the Gospel” I said those familiar words over and over this morning, as I rubbed ashen crosses on the foreheads and hands of dozens of Bethel students and employees. It’s Ash Wednesday, and I was one of the professors asked to participate in the morning’s chapel … More Repent, Relent: A Brief Meditation for Ash Wednesday
The Pietist Schoolman 