Month: June 2018
Writing Tracker – Week 23 (June 3 – 9)
Writers write. That’s the bottom line. I realize that the last couple weeks I’ve left the Writing Tracker to the end of the week. As long as I keep them all within the proper weeks,...
Why Are Catholics Better at Soccer?
The teams in this year’s World Cup seem to suggest that Catholic nations have disproportionate soccer skill. Nearly half of the 32 teams in the tournament are from predominantly Catholic countries, though only about 16...
What Young Adults in 100 Countries Think of Religion: Christianity Today
This story is published in full at Christianity Today Despite concerns about secularization, the world’s population may not be losing its religion quite so fast. Like in the US, young adults around the globe are generally less...
Nearly 1,000,000 Syrians Newly Displaced This Year–The Worst Year So Far
The Syrian war is old news. Wasn’t Aleppo retaken? Isn’t ISIS defeated? Didn’t Russia finish the job? And, perhaps more importantly, haven’t we moved on to North Korea, talks of collusion, Iran, trade and tariffs,...
Compassion Versus Security
The largest obstacle to resettling refugees in North America is our own fear. It is a fear that comes from news stories about Arabs and Africans—sometimes migrants, usually not—killing Westerners on the street or in...
Writing Tracker – Week 22 (May 27 – June 2)
Writers write. That’s the bottom line. Last week was dedicated almost entirely to three projects. The first was a new story for Christianity Today, which came out earlier this week. The second was a City...
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 2 – ‘I Am With You’
Last time, we talked about how Christianity responds to terror management theory with the promise of a favorable afterlife with God. But what other promises does Christianity have that removes the sting of death, that...
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 1 – The Afterlife
Terror management theory juxtaposes the human impulse toward survival with our realization of the inevitability of death. How do we deal with these two competing facts? The result in this heightened, ever-present state of cognitive...
On the Prospect of Resettlement: Saying “Welcome”
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. – Hebrews 13:1-2 As we’ve noted, the “refugee” label carries various...
Gospel Offense and Christian Kindness
We’re in a season in history when it’s popular, and true as ever, to talk about the offense of the gospel. God’s Word tells us that the good news of Christ will be a “stone...