Spiritual Starvation

How do you starve a culture? ...

Choose This Day

There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to fashion. Consider jeans, so common as to be practically invisible. Ever wonder why jeans are the thing to wear, and not khakis? I don’t know; it’s just fashion. Or take shoes: when I first came to southern California, I was startled to see people wearing flip-flops everywhere (in the supermarket! in church!), but now I’m used to it. The SoCal...

Intention Matters

Every so often there’s a headline in the popular media about the psychological benefits of doing good things. This week it was a report on the positive effects of giving money away. A study had found that people reported more happiness from giving $20 away than from spending it on themselves. Reports like this have appeared frequently in recent years, suggesting that people who pray regularly report greater...

The High Cost of Low Expectations

“Image” is itself a neutral word. The important question to ask is, image of what? Of whom? Modern culture has us chasing after false, destructive images most of the time, but in radical contrast stands the most profound Christian statement of identity: that we are made in the image of God. Whether we use that image to determine our expectations for our lives, or whether we settle for something less,...

Sin and Love

We’re losing the word “sin.” And along with it, we’re losing something of the meaning of love....