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...
Dear Bryan, You’re probably at the piano, writing songs about things you know nothing about, like love and loss. Or doing vocal warm-ups so you can audition for that blasted show choir. (Don’t bother. You won’t make it until your senior year, and when you do, you’ll become a bigger nerd than you already are.) I do hope you’ll find time for this letter. I’m writing from the future, of course, to warn you about...
I don’t know about you but advertisements bug me. It’s not so much the fact that they exist, but the methods used. I have often tried to corner my buddies studying Business Marketing into admitting that they specialize in deception, lightheartedly of course. But what particularly annoys me is when advertisements do not indicate anything about the product. From my analysis (merely as a consumer) I have begun to group various types of marketing strategies...
Many of us know Job 19 because, if we know anything of the actual Joban dialogue, we know Job 19:23-27. It is the most famous passage from the book. In the text Job states his belief that a day will come when he will physically see God after his death. Over the past couple of weeks, I have looked at Job and how he points to the true man of sorrows, Jesus Christ. I plan...
Finding good friends can be a tough gig. I’m talking about the type of friend that is more than a Facebook acquaintance. I’m talking about the type of friends that you share life with in the midst of its brutal winters. But, could there possibly be anything worse than not being able to find those types of friends? The answer to this question is yes. Think of Job for a moment. He thought he had...
Job is my favorite book of the bible. In some ways, this is a bit terrifying. Something in the back of my mind tells me that liking the book of Job so much might not be such a good idea. I say this because if you are always pondering the book of Job, then it seems likely that God will eventually have to test you like Job, to insure that you really do “understand” the...
Much of what I have been arguing for, or against, over the past couple of weeks has to do with what I believe is at the root of the misunderstanding surrounding proper applications of biblical manhood principles. I want to suggest that the biblical manhood movement puts crushing and often times unbiblical expectations on young men who are seeking after their savior. If this is any doubt, one only has to read the commenter, Stuart,...
Disclaimer: After posting my initial critique of the biblical manhood movement last week, I received a number of responses. It appeared to at least one commenter that I was ungrateful for what the men I had critiqued were doing to help recover a vision for biblical manhood in the church. Before I delve into my critique any further, I want to be very forthright in saying that I am grateful for what many authors in...
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