I was recently privileged to preview Lord Save Us From Your Followers, a provocative new documentary from Dan Merchant (his book of the same title was published by Thomas Nelson). Subtitled “Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America?” the film takes a hard, but pretty fair, look at the state of evangelicalism in the [...]
Christians can’t escape their theology when writing conversion scenes, but neither can they escape their own experience of it. I think this is what Dave Long meant about Christian authors bringing “a level of specificity” to the subject. Perhaps this is why the discussion generated by Dave’s “conversion story” contest dealt largely with theology. In [...]
The hardest thing about writing a “conversion scene” is that conversions usually aren’t “scenes,” they are processes. Often long, messy ones, at that. One of the consistent raps against Christian fiction and Christian film is the inclusion of the “obligatory conversion scene” (see: Fireproof). But while a character’s conversion to Christ may rally the troops, [...]
It is not uncommon, nor wrong, to characterize Jesus in terms of Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness. But listening to some Christians, you’d think that that’s all Jesus ever stood for. Is it just me, or has the New Spirituality — the postmodern Christianity that is largely a reaction against conservative evangelicalism — conveniently stripped Jesus [...]
Michael Jordan is arguably one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Nevertheless, his acceptance speech at last weekend’s Hall of Fame induction was flat-out classless (see especially Pt. 2 and Pt. 3). ESPN’s Rick Reilly, in his article Be Like Mike? No thanks!, reports: Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame talk was the Exxon [...]
If you have the gift of teaching, evangelism, hospitality, or helps, there is a place for you in the Church. If you have administration skills, musical talent, or simply like to serve, there is a place for you in the Church. But if you are an artist, a writer, a poet, or an actor, you’re [...]
Aunt Mary changed my worldview. No, she wasn’t very articulate, eloquent, or educated. She didn’t know much about theology and was oblivious to cultural trends and evangelistic models. But she really loved Jesus. The problem was — at least for me — my Aunt Mary was a Catholic. That was back in 1980 and, as [...]
Just because someone criticizes the Church does not make them a “church basher.” Indeed, healthy criticism is necessary for God’s people. After all, Jesus drove the money changers out of his “house” with regularity. But the ever-increasing spate of books by “recovering fundamentalists” seem less like “house cleaning” than they do “demolition.” It’s one thing [...]
Bashing the Christian Church is en vogue these days. Books like They Like Jesus but Not the Church, unChristian, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians, all share a simple, yet popular premise: organized Christianity is corrupt, out of touch, and/or in decline. Postmodern and emergent Christians are often highly [...]
In the Bible, there is only one account of Christ actually writing something. This seems to surprise a lot of people. After all, Scripture is about Him. So it often comes as a shock to learn that Jesus did not write parts of the Bible. In fact, He barely wrote anything. In the Gospel of [...]
