Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In my last essay, we saw how consumer culture has gutted the familial category necessary to understand the church. When a consumer visits a church, he expects another service-provider, such as a hospital or a restaurant. He doesn’t understand the role of men in ministry, and thus, not the role…
First time visitors to our church sometimes express their surprise that children, even the youngest, participate with their parents in the entire worship service. Many congregations created an expectation for the parents (and children) of Sunday School or Child Care being available during the entire worship service or during the…
Quantifying the Love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16 This most beloved verse in all the Bible was spoken by the Savior himself to Nicodemus. As…
While The Lord’s Prayer enjoys wide recognition throughout the Church, its richness and depth may be unrealized due to a lesser familiarity with, what I will argue is, its primary inspiration: the Tabernacle. There, Christ’s intent can rightly be discerned. The Prayer’s methodological correction to the Jews and Gentiles wasn’t…
The Consumption of the Covenant Idea of the Church Last time we saw consumerism, having canalized its attitudes in our culture, shapes what the consumer sees when he or she steps into a church. Here, we’ll see how it has eviscerated the covenant and familial ideas necessary to understand the…
The ignoble Jayber Crow can stir your appetite for the noble. It’s the simplicity of a good ol’ Port William boy that builds the charm of the book. In fact, the elitists in Port William receive the harshest blows and severest outcomes, as they should. But before delving into the…
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In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him…
Perhaps a history of modern aesthetic sensibilities could be written as a history of water. Consider: The shimmering liquity of some Romantic music (eg, Tchaikovsky), the muted submergence of Debussey, Monet’s obsession with the play of light on water. Or maybe romanticism as inspired by a lunar aesthetics. Or maybe…
Brendan O’Donnell’s Rain from a Rainless Sky (Bright Rock Press, 2006) is a theological meditation on sagebrush. Writing in understated prose as stark as the landscapes where sagebrush thrives, O’Donnell weaves together a biblical theology of trees and weeds, reflections on Gene Robinson and Peter Akinola, and a travelogue of…
The first rule of Adcult, Twitchell says, is “Speech is never free.” For example: “In 1986 the [ Reader’s ] Digest turned town an advertising supplement on heart disease and cigarette smoking prepared by the American Heart Association.” The Digest had never printed cigarette ads, but they turned down the…
In his highly entertaining history of American Advertising ( Adcult USA ) James Twitchell summarizes the dubious contribution of James Vicary to our understanding of subliminal advertising. Vicary claimed that by inserting subliminal messages to “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coke,” he had caused movie audiences to increase popcorn consumption by…
During the period of the old covenant, God hid things. He hid some things inside the Most Holy Place, where no one could go. He also hid His plans from his people. He had a secret, which was disclosed, and then only in part, to certain “cognoscenti” - prophets and…
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