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
If you’ve been reading this blog at all closely for the past year or so, you know that I’m no great fan of our current president. But even I was taken aback at this description of a recent Trump rally near Orlando, by a local Nazarene pastor named Joel Tooley: Call it what you will, but … More Is “Demonic Activity is Palpable” in American Politics?
While I didn’t do a lot of blogging during my travel course in Europe, I did try to keep up on my newsfeed. So as we near the end of January, I’ll share a couple of links wraps covering the whole month. I’ll come back to history and education tomorrow, but let’s start with the first overarching topic … More That Was The Month That Was: Christianity
Last week I reflected on my concerns about social media like Twitter and Facebook, and explained why I ultimately agreed with historian Tommy Kidd that scholars can make good use of them. But as a counterpoint, let me share a bit of what Tyler Wigg-Stevenson wrote (the same day as my post) in explaining his … More A Second Opinion on Quitting Social Media
Before supper tonight, we prayed words that I’ve probably said more than 40,000 times now: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest And let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen Whether the gifts in question were this evening’s tacos and rice, some grander meal, or any of the other blessings that were on my mind at … More Come, Lord Jesus (really)
Let me talk to pastors for a moment. (Though their congregants might want to listen in.) Sisters and brothers – Now that candidate Trump has become president-elect Trump, I know that many of you are struggling with how you’re going to preach tomorrow morning. Unsettled yourselves, you know that you’ll soon look out at the expectant faces of people feeling … More “Tell It Like It Is”: How Pastors Can Respond to Election Day
Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest And let these gifts to us be blessed Amen Today I’m happy to continue my new Anxious Bench series — on Christian writings that don’t take the form of books — by reflecting on the table grace that I’ve known all my life and am now teaching my children. Here’s an … More Beyond Books: “Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest”
In the wake of the recent Southern Baptist debate about religious freedom for Muslims — and given the larger conversation about the meaning of religious freedom in an increasingly post-Christian society — I thought I’d use this week’s Anxious Bench post to revisit something I wrote about last year: how Baptists responded to the 1960s Supreme Court rulings against … More Religious Freedom: The Contested Core of Baptist Identity
Like everyone, I’m stunned and grieved by the news from Orlando yesterday. I’m not sure I have anything useful to say… except to repost what I shared the last time there was a mass shooting on anything like this scale. Sadly, I only had to go back seven months in my archive to find that post. It … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: “Thoughts and Prayers”
If any one of Philipp Spener’s six “pious wishes” is most central, or does the most to set Pietism apart from other Christian traditions that place a high value on Scripture and a “common priesthood,” it’s probably this one: …the people must have it impressed upon them and must accustom themselves to believing that it is by no … More Thursday’s Podcast: Christianity as Life
The Pietist Schoolman 