Naturally Clueless Parenting

Dad holding my brother Mickey and me, apparently before I had developed anything resembling a spine. Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, has this to say about Fatherhood: “Much of life, fatherhood included, is the story of knowledge acquired too late: if only I’d known then what I know...

Orlando and a Call to Creativity

We have to do something. If all we do is square off in our respective corners—Christian/Muslim, gay/straight, gun control/right-to-bear-arms, Democrat/Republican—then all that will happen is we’ll shout at and past each other, no one will win, everyone will lose, and it will happen again. After a while...

Your Biblical Heroes are Fatally Flawed

I heard it again. I was listening to a speaker the other day and he said something that I’ve heard many, many times: “The Bible is unique because all the heroes of the Bible are so flawed, and the Bible doesn’t hide their flaws.” I’ve probably said it myself, but this time, it got me wondering: what heroes...

The Surprising Reason Chronicles is in the Bible

Why is the book of Chronicles in the Bible? It was written after the book of Kings and covers much of the same material, from the end of Saul’s reign until the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Chronicles tacks on at the very end that Cyrus the Great of Persia allowed the exiles to return to...

It’s Not History Without a Story

There is an official chronicle of the Civil War called “The Official Records of the American Civil War.” It contains formal officer reports , prisoner lists, written orders, maps, diagrams, and correspondence, from both sides, as well as first-hand accounts. Some of it is interesting to read, and a lot of...

« Older Entries Next Entries »