Month: August 2013
Tenure, pastoring and Ashton Kutcher
Generally, I think very highly of teachers. For all the work they put in, they should have some job security. But this Bloomberg article, “Old professors never quit, they just hang around,” raises some good...
A prayer for Egypt
God, you are the great defender. We pray that your hand of protection would be over Egypt. Grant comfort, that compassion and mercy would overcome any peril. Grant peace, that wherever there is danger or...
We’re trying as hard as we can to be alone
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been conducting a little observational study on Chicago’s “L” trains. I wanted to know what, exactly, people do on the trains, because they’re certainly not talking to me. But seriously, I...
Two heroes have died: William Vande Kopple and Jean Bethke Elshtain
Within the span of about the last month, two of my very dear professors passed away. William Vande Kopple died July 3 and Jean Bethke Elshtain died this past Sunday, August 11. There’s not much...
Christian superstars, let’s not hurt the Church
There’s a guy at your church who is on the praise team, is an usher, teaches the Alpha course, volunteers in the kids’ Sunday school and hosts a Bible study at his house. There’s a...
Missed Connections, ‘Hunger Games’ camp and why the midwest is the smartest region
Everyone, everywhere, read this. It’s an incredible post on Brooklyn’s Missed Connections page on Craigslist. I wish I had written this. “At ‘Hunger Games’ camp, children want to fight to the ‘death.'” Here’s a kind of...
He Stepped onto the Train and I Just Knew
The following is a true story. Quotations are recorded accurately, to the best of my memory. He stepped onto the train and I just knew. Everyone else in the car knew, too. The tattered clothes....
Thoughts from a journalist on Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post
You don’t have to work in journalism to care that Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon, has just laid down a quarter of a billion dollars to purchase The Washington Post. A lot of journalists...
“For I Know the Plans I Have for You…” Are We Misrepresenting Jeremiah 29:11?
Jeremiah 29:11 is recited all the time, and for good reason. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give...
The day I saw real people
There are seven billion people on this planet. We see only the tiniest fraction of them from day to day, and interact with even fewer. That was the premise of a small observational study I...