Many pastors and Christian cultural commentators today are fond of saying things like, “We aren’t experiencing real persecution here in the United States, nor is there any significant persecution in places like Europe.” If that is the case, then why are so many people afraid to speak publicly about Christian moral convictions regarding sex, marriage, […]

Let me tell you about how my dad saved my life, and a few lessons we all can learn from the story.  When I was around 10 years old, my friends and their dads got together at a local park to play street hockey on roller blades. We played on two adjoining tennis courts.  Unlike […]

In the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life, the main character, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is the archetype of a Protestant American male from small-town USA. He has grand ambitions but a greater sense of duty to his family and people. He wants to travel the world but decides on his way […]

Every December, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol returns to our cultural imagination. We watch Ebenezer Scrooge transform from a miserly, isolated man muttering “humbug” at every mention of Christmas, into a joyful, generous soul who embodies the so-called “Christmas spirit.” It’s a heart-warming story. But for the Christian, there’s an obvious problem: the “redemption” Scrooge […]