Cultivating Righteousness: Gardening and Sanctification
I hate to admit it, but I was often a disgruntled field hand in my father’s garden. Things came to a head, however, the summer that I was fourteen. My father thought that raising pole-beans would be a great way for me and my two younger brothers to pad our portfolios (woefully underfunded savings accounts) [1]. His idea had many positive intentions and potential results: increased work ethic, better understanding of husbandry,...
Rhythm’s ‘Rite’
This week marks the centennial of a famous riot in Paris on May 29, 1913. Was the cause of this riot political unrest, governmental abuses, or class warfare? No. It was a ballet! Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, The Rite of Spring, premiered in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, literally igniting a physical riot in the crowd, as well as an aesthetic riot in the twentieth century music world. How could a ballet have had such tremendous and...
Building Biblical Communities
On Saturday, December 1, 2012, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his longtime girlfriend Kasandra Perkins. He then drove to the Chiefs’ stadium where he committed suicide in front of his head coach and general manager [1]. The next day, during a post-game press-conference, Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn stated: We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have...
Viewing Hildegard of Bingen In the Rearview Mirror
On 7 October 2012, a rare thing occurred: Pope Benedict XVI named Hildegard of Bingen (and John of Avila) a Doctor of the Church. This is a title given by the Roman Catholic Church to those of particular theological importance. In fact, only 35 persons have been given this distinct honor. Among them are Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Bernard of Clairvaux—rarefied company to say the least....
Abraham Kuyper: Christ Transforming Culture
In his 1951 book, Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr set out these models for Christian engagement with culture: Christ against culture, Christ in culture, and Christ transforming culture [1]. – The first calls for Christians to actively withdraw from society. This approach often fosters enmity between believers and unbelievers. – The second states that Christians should imbibe the culture around them. Differences...
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