The Demise of Community
This year, Verna and I read through Jayber Crow together for the first time. Wendell Berry’s fascinating and riveting—if somewhat rambling—fictional story about a small town in Kentucky from the early to late 20th century has stuck in my mind, making me process America’s recent history from the lens of … Read More
It Is Not Good for Man to Be Alone
Adam didn’t have much life experience. God had just recently breathed life into him and placed him in the newly-planted garden of Eden. After giving him one simple rule, and a dire warning of the consequences for breaking it, God stated a simple but shocking fact about Adam’s personhood: “It … Read More
Celebrities for … Jesus?
Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed wave after wave of high-profile Christian scandals—from Mark Driscoll to Ravi Zacharias to Carl Lentz and beyond. Then there are the prospering but all-too-commercialized, slick megachurch hipster pastors with expensive designer outfits (see PreachersNSneakers on Instagram). At a certain point one is justified … Read More
Let’s Not React to (Good) Authority
I’ve been writing and podcasting about authority and how it’s been abused, specifically in the Gothard/IBLP context. For some, I imagine my choice to focus on abuses of authority has seemed a bit edgy, an odd choice in an era where church authority is already under a lot of attack. … Read More
Why I Read Fiction (And You Should, Too)
Over the years, I’ve hesitated to tell people that reading fiction is essential to a well-rounded worldview. I don’t like to push my opinions on anyone, because what works for me might not work for them, and vice versa. I also find it hard to articulate exactly why I find … Read More
Worldliness is Worse than You Think
A few years ago, I would cringe when folks started talking about worldliness. It felt lame to get so concerned over expensive weddings, edgy clothes, and sports cars. Why can’t we focus on things that really matter?, I thought. People are dying who haven’t gotten eternal life, and we’re contentedly … Read More
The Problem with the “Umbrella of Authority”
I recently wrote a post that reviewed Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s process of disentangling truth from error in her upbringing in the Bill Gothard / Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) movement. In this post I’d like to address what I think has been the most harmful and abused of Gothard’s … Read More
Jinger Duggar Vuolo and the Process of “Disentangling”
There have been too many stories of “deconstruction” lately. The pattern is simple: a young, conservative Christian zealously promotes the faith, only to hit a crisis of doubt that leads to an end of faith. The most famous example of this is Joshua Harris, the prominent purity culture figure who … Read More
Remembering Tim Keller
Tim Keller’s passing (May 19, 2023) hit me pretty hard. Though I didn’t know him personally, he was one of the people I most respected. I’m fortunate that I did get to hear him preach in person multiple times—both at conferences and at his church, Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan. Back … Read More