It was Easter Sunday in 1972. My grandfather was preparing to sing an Easter cantata with his church choir when he suffered a stroke and collapsed. On the following Sunday, he went to be with the Lord. I never met my grandfather, but I’ve heard countless stories from my mother about what a wonderful man he was, full of joy, gentle-natured and filled with the love of his Savior. Four years ago, on the night...
After only a month in Scotland, word came for my wife that her grandmother had died. Once I found out, I knew it meant that she would be returning home for the service. It would be a painful process for her. Death is, to our senses, utterly irreversible. People that we love dearly pass across an invisible, indiscriminate divide and we have no way of reaching across and speaking to them again. For as long...
This Thursday and Friday (May 17 and 18) the School of English at the University of St Andrews will be hosting an international conference on Harry Potter called, “A Brand of Fictional Magic: Reading Harry Potter as Literature.” Today I am leaving Las Vegas to return to Scotland for this event. I’ve been excited for this conference since before I was even accepted to study at St Andrews. Initially I just thought I’d attend, but...
This upcoming Sunday is Oscar Sunday. The 84th annual Academy Awards ceremony will announce the best efforts in the film industry from 2011. Perhaps the most coveted award, Best Picture, will be decided among 9 nominees. The only film from 2011 to be nominated that I saw was The Tree of Life (I should have been able to include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two in this list… Biggest snub of the year). The Tree of Life has also been...
On Saturday, celebrated singer Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hilton hotel room—her body submerged in bathwater, bottles of prescription pills close by. The story is still developing, and like many celebrity death tales, will probably remain steeped in scandal and speculation. In the meantime, there are some theological takeaways. Death has a way of bringing out the good, the bad, and the gospel. Whitney’s talents point to God as gift-giver. Whitney took...
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