This week I broke my blogging silence here to blog about silence. And over at The Anxious Bench, I explained what the history of “home missions” has to do with my current book project. Elsewhere… • To understand the stark difference in character between the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and the one from 2016, read … More That Was The Week That Was
God, give me an uncomplicated faith — if only for a moment. That’s what I prayed this morning as I attended the annual Minnesota Prayer Breakfast, a now 59-year tradition whose participants “gather to work and pray for unity so that they can come to know [God] and have their lives transformed by his love.” … More On Prayer, Death, and Resurrection
Here… • The least risky way to prepare for work in the 21st century is to major in history or another of the humanities. (“Least risky” in one sense. In another, it’s terribly risky — more on that next week…) • Given one chance to speak to our faculty as president, I didn’t want to … More That Was The Week That Was
As I write this, Vice President Mike Pence is addressing the the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Some Southern Baptists aren’t too happy about that. As John Fea reported, a Virginia pastor named Garrett Kell found the invitation to Pence so tone-deaf and divisive that he recommended replacing that speech with a time … More On Praying for Donald Trump
Here… • Looking for a free Lenten devotional? You’ve come to the right place. • Last Sunday I preached on the Ten Commandments, death, and other things. Your next chance to hear me preach (and teach) is February 9-11 in Minneapolis. • An interview with a former gymnast raised “important questions about church complicity in … More That Was The Week That Was
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
Yesterday I put my Modern Europe students through what’s become a pre-Thanksgiving ritual: watching the 2005 German movie, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, about the anti-Nazi student resistance group known as the White Rose. About, that is, the arrest, interrogation, and execution of its leaders, Sophie and Hans Scholl. Coming after our week on the Final Solution, it’s a wrenching … More The Prayers at the Heart of the White Rose
No more waiting: October 3rd is here and The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity is available! I’m excited to hear what you all think of it. Please register your opinion at Amazon and other retailers: it only takes a few minutes, but writing a review gives us valuable feedback and helps the … More Why You Should Read The Pietist Option: My Co-Author
The words that came to mind this long-awaited morning, as our book finally reaches its audience… God our Father, who spoke light and life into existence, Forgive me when I have been too quick to speak — and too slow to speak out. You have made me in your creative image; Thank you for the privilege … More An Author’s Prayer
While I’ve skimmed through Charles Lindbergh’s most famous memoir, I’m actually intimidated to read The Spirit of St. Louis. A popular and critical hit, SoSL won the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for its inventive, gripping narrative. Any would-be biographer needs to live up to the high standard set by Lindbergh himself (with considerable editing assistance from his wife, Anne). … More The Spiritual Spirit of St. Louis
