“According to the recently released Faith Communities Today study, half of the congregations in the United States have 65 people or fewer, while two-thirds of congregations have fewer than 100.” Continue reading →
In a recent essay I mentioned in passing that we do not need Bishop Ken’s seventeenth-century substitute (i.e., “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”) for the Psalms since there are five doxologies inspired by the Holy Spirit and included in the Psalter . . . Continue reading →
In October, 1982, Will Lee, who played the beloved “Mr Hooper” character on Sesame Street, died. In November, 1983 the show had to address his absence and explain it to their young views. The show was aimed at 3–4 year olds. Here is how they did it: Continue reading →
This is the seventh session of Bob Godfrey’s Adult Sunday School series at the Escondido URC. In this session he explores the challenges faced by Christendom due to the Enlightenment and how it took shape in America. He argues that Christianity as . . . Continue reading →
This is the argument of Jason Estopinal. He appeals to Proverbs 10:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:11; Philippians 4:8, Proverbs 3:30, and Matthew 18 and concludes that Christians should not be fascinated by what one critic has called the “failure porn” of the Christianity Today podcast . . . Continue reading →
In 2008, Mike Horton called attention to the phenomenon of a radically subjective turn in American evangelicalism, in Christless Christianity. Unfortunately, a single book diagnosing the deep sickness of American evangelical Christianity was not enough to turn the tide. In that volume . . . Continue reading →
In the sixth session of Bob Godfrey’s Sunday school class at the Escondido URC, he traces the effects of the Enlightenment upon the West. Drawing upon Carl Becker’s work he highlights four key tenets of the movement: (1) that man is not natively . . . Continue reading →
In just a few short years the noun Homophobia has become one of the most powerful words in the English language. It has an interesting, if brief, history. It was derived from the combination of two Greek loan words brought into English, . . . Continue reading →
Indiana United Methodist minister Craig Duke donned a big pink wig, lots of purple eye shadow, bright red lipstick, and high heels while appearing on a recent HBO episode of “We’re Here.” The series features HBO drag queen hosts visiting small towns to recruit local drag queens to perform. Continue reading →
We live in a day when those things that stand in the way of the prevailing narrative of the culture are canceled, banished out of existence as we once knew them. As much as we are rightly worried about cancel culture in . . . Continue reading →
I began writing a few op-eds for our local Jewish paper, one of which was spotted by a Wall Street Journal editor, who invited me to submit to the Wall Street Journal. I did, and in the course of that year, published . . . Continue reading →
It is no secret that the Presbyterian Church in America is in turmoil. No one denies the existence of conflict and consternation. Though some consider the strife to be unjustified, even they do not believe the strife will soon cease or be . . . Continue reading →
I am not sure why it took me so long to get to Sophie and the Heidelberg Cat published in 2019. Perhaps it is because we do not have children in the house but Harrison Perkins, frequent contributor to this space, mentioned . . . Continue reading →
That should bring the price of the hardcopy to about $35.o0 and the e-book to about $27.50, which is approaching a reasonable price. Continue reading
Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Carson v. Makin, a case that concerns whether Maine may constitutionally exclude religious schools from participating in the state’s private-school tuition-assistance program. To those who have been paying attention to recent Supreme Court decisions . . . Continue reading →
A federal judge Tuesday blocked a national COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would have required private government contractors to get their shots, dealing yet another blow to the Biden administration’s jab push. The mandate, set to take hold Jan. 4, was the latest . . . Continue reading →
I feel that abortion involves taking a human life… Having decided that taking a life by abortion is sometimes the lesser evil,
Until I read Transfiguration and Transformation by Hywel Jones, just out from the Banner of Truth, I did not realize that our English translations translate the same word as transfigure when applied to our Lord and as transform when it is applied to us. Hywel . . . Continue reading →
Jesus reclines at the feast of Levi, and he is surrounded by more tax-collectors and sinners. He is keeping company with some bad folk. To be labeled a sinner was not to be socially misunderstood; it wasn’t an unfair prejudice against those . . . Continue reading →
On October 28, 2021 The Pew Research Center published another of their fascinating and illuminating polls. This one surveyed the attitudes of Americans on the relations between church and state. For our international readers the USA has a written constitution (other nations . . . Continue reading →