We’ve recently been visiting my wife’s family in New Hampshire, and as we often do, we spent some time during our trip camping in the White Mountains. I’m always grateful to get out into nature for a bit (especially in a place that gets no cell service), so I can be removed from distractions and enjoy God’s creation. As we were walking around our campsite, my wife pointed out the new growth on the trees in the area. Normally we go camping around July, so any growth for the year has already changed color and blends in with the rest of the tree. This year we went in June and,…
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Engage The Culture, Not The Culture War
Erwin Rommel, a military general under Nazi Germany, is quoted as saying, “in the absence of orders, find something and kill it.” While this may strike us as amusing on the surface, it reveals the dark nature of war. War frames everything it touches in the context of war; all of life becomes about war, which means all of life becomes about death and killing. Until the enemy is dead and utterly defeated, the war is not over and you must continue to kill or be killed. Culture wars are not so different. In culture wars, too, we have enemies, nebulous though the categories may be. We do not merely…
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The Ordinary and Extraordinary Calling of God
Scripture is filled with stories of an extraordinary God doing extraordinary things through ordinary people. Or so we might say – but were they really that ordinary? Certainly they were human – flesh and blood – just like us. Yet, we recognize that in many ways they were extraordinary as well, albeit by God’s grace (an important caveat). Noah built a boat that saved the human race and endured an epic disaster. Jacob wrestled with God (and won?!). Joseph became the second to Pharaoh in Egypt and saved countless lives. Moses … goodness, what didn’t Moses do? Esther saved her people and saw the wicked brought to justice. Rahab went…
