On the Run from ISIS

In an effort to understand the heart of a nation, journalist and World Magazine editor Mindy Belz spoke to its people.  To connect the dots between ancient civilizations, a modern-day dictator, and a political force that operates with fiery religious zeal, Mindy joined forces with an Iraqi-in-exile, Insaf Safou, with whom she learned and followed… Continue reading On the Run from ISIS

Joy Davidman Lewis, Author

Her story has all the makings of a melancholy fairy tale:  award-winning poet and brilliant writer caught in a disastrous marriage flees to England and meets the world-renowned author she has been pen-friends with since first reading his books.  Following her divorce, they marry and enjoy four years of bliss until her death from cancer… Continue reading Joy Davidman Lewis, Author

Meditations on The Name

The infinite variety in nature, the curious complexity of human behavior, the synchronicity of multiple systems in our own anatomy -- and in the solar system -- all point, through general revelation, to the nature of God:  multi-faceted, magnificent, and yet mysterious.  Special revelation in Scripture picks up where creation leaves off, and Beth Willis… Continue reading Meditations on The Name

The Paradox of Flourishing

One of the great joys of middle age has been the privilege of watching my oldest son and his wife parent a son who is made in the exact image and likeness of his energetic, curious, strong-willed dad.  Like all new parents, they are executing this balance of firmness and warmth, freedom and structure, love… Continue reading The Paradox of Flourishing

In the Midst of Your Mess

Teaching or leading in a Christian context is always a bit of a risk. There's the perception that you just might have all the answers; that your life is all nice and pulled together; that you and God have some kind of agreement about how life is going to unfold -- when the truth is that… Continue reading In the Midst of Your Mess

No Sanction for Domestic Abuse

Ruth A. Tucker is a story teller. I have vivid and fond memories from my experience of reading her Dynamic Women of the Bible when it was released in 2014.  As she unfurled and then analyzed the story of each Biblical woman, tiny shards of her own story would poke through the narrative fabric:  an abusive husband, the humiliation… Continue reading No Sanction for Domestic Abuse

A.W. Tozer: Thoughts on Prayer

So many books.  So little time.  Tozer is my "undiscovered author," and it's not as if I haven't delighted in brief quotations of his words -- a mix of the understated and the profound.  It is even true that portions of his sermons read online have jolted me awake to God's holiness and drawn me closer to the… Continue reading A.W. Tozer: Thoughts on Prayer

Where Faith and History Intersect

In this election year, I've heard it said that foreign policy doesn't fit on a bumper sticker.  True enough, and I would go on to say that theology doesn't either, but that doesn't stop us from trying to put it there.   One bumper sticker that's been around for decades reads:  "Prayer Changes Things."  You've… Continue reading Where Faith and History Intersect