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The End of Christendom: Its Demise and Rebirth
I was inspired to write this piece by a little book I’m re-reading by Malcolm Muggeridge. He gave a talk about the end of Christendom in 1978, the year of my new birth, for the inaugural address of the Pascal Lectures at the University of Waterloo. I just did a quick...
The “Nazi” Label as a Rhetorical Kill Switch and Cultural Marxism
The first part of this title came from a post I saw on Twitter by Joel Webbon, a pastor from Texas and leader on the dissident right, or New Christian Right, or whatever one calls that these days. Sadly, he was referring to other people on the right who use this “kill...
The Primary Importance of the Ascension: Why Do Evangelicals Ignore It?
That’s a good question. I was reminded of it when I was in Jacksonville, Florida, for my father-in-law’s 90th birthday. He goes to a Lutheran church, and we decided to go with him that Sunday. It so happened that was Ascension Sunday, June 1. What is Ascension Sunday,...
Articles on Theology
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill: Nothing New Under the Sun
Mars Hill was a phenomenon in the first decade or so of the century. The church grew, sprouted many campuses, and had an impact far and wide, driven by the intense and entertaining preacher who led it.
What Has Brandon to do with Christianity?
I try not to get into politics here, but it’s hard to avoided in the current political and cultural climate, so sometimes in must be addressed, thus Brandon and Christianity.
Revelation, Our Awesome God, and the Desperate Faith of Secularism
At my other blog I've been writing through the Bible the last seven plus years, from Genesis to Revelation (that might sound familiar to you hard core Genesis fans), and have made it to Revelation 4. I thought I'd share here a version of a post I did there about my...
Articles on Explanatory Power
Why Is Homosexuality Unnatural in Addition to Sin?
Given this is ostensibly a blog about parenting, and that I soon have a book about parenting to be published, and we live in the 21st century, I can't escape commenting on homosexuality. As you know it is ubiquitous in our culture, and if you have children you won't...
It’s So Hard to Believe, But It Is So Hard Not to Believe
This phrase came to mind the other day as our family got word that my wife's beloved stepmother, Dora Walston Haggard, had died unexpectedly. She had been going through some health challenges, but none that appeared remotely life-threatening. All of a sudden when...
No, Death is Not Natural
Death is an underrated tool in the apologists's toolbox. Put another way, we can use death more often and more effectively to defend the veracity of the Christian faith. Christians are usually put on the defensive when the subject of death (and suffering) comes up...
Articles on Culture
There is Nothing as Seductively Secular as Frank
If you have to ask what Frank, stop reading right now. Anyone who lived in the 20th century, and raised their kids well in the 21st, should know that could only be the incomparable Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board. The other night my wife told some little intimate...
A Charlie Brown Christmas: Now More Than Ever!
As is our family Christmas tradition, we watched yet again the wonderful Charlie Brown Christmas special that first aired in 1965, when I was all of five years old.
The Triumph of the Therapeutic: It’s All About Me!
I'm not sure the title of a book can better capture our age than Philip Reiff's 1966 classic The Triumph of the Therapeutic, especially in the tumultuous 2020. The book is Reiff's take on Sigmund Freud, who he thought a genius, and the response of other psychoanalysts...
Articles on Apologetics
Josephus and the Historical Credibility of the Bible
Not many Christians are familiar with first century Jewish historian Josephus, which is unfortunate. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (the latter rejected purely out of anti-supernatural bias) are the most well-attested facts in all of ancient history. But...
“Science Uprising”: New video series unmasks materialism for what it is: Wrong!
Too many Christians allow low-simmering doubt into their minds because the dominant Western secular cultural narrative assumes materialism at every point, that is that the material, matter, is all that exists. And, if materialism is true, Christianity is not. In the...
Where Did The Idea of a Personal, Creator God Come From?
Being a person of extreme apologetic bent, I'm always looking to validate Christian truth claims. Apologetics is critical in a Western culture drenched in secularism, where most people fit into one of the Triple A categories: Atheist, Agnostic, or Apathetic. For them...
Articles on Parenting and Family
Now I lay me down to sleep . . . Teaching Death to our Children
I grew up as I think of it as a typical Catholic of the 60s and 70s. We attended Mass every Sunday, I went to Catechism, and did my first Communion and Confirmation. Otherwise, our faith was not particularly relevant to the rest of our lives. But my mother did pray...
Toxic Masculinity: Teaching Your Boys To Become Men
All the secular left-wing isms of our day (feminism, progressivism, liberalism, cultural Marxism, secularism, etc.) have culminated in a phrase so oxymoronic it must have been invented by Satan himself: "toxic masculinity." To be masculine in the fevered, relativistic...
A Christian Case for the Necessity of Classical Education – Take 4: Why We Need It and Now
Classical education as I've described it in previous posts is the antidote to secular progressive education. Too many Christians think that if they add religious words and concepts onto the progressive education model, that will make all the difference. It's better...