Category Archives: Culture-Economics-Society

The Gospel for Libertarians

LCI graciously invited me to help represent them at FreedomFest, June 10–14, in Palm Springs, CA. In addition to schmoozing and working the conference floor and the LCI booth, I got to talk about my book and to share the gospel with a room full of liberty-minded folks, explaining why Christianity is the best foundation for liberty and human flourishing. Continue reading

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Kennedy on “All Those Principles of Christianity”

For me, the “principles” of Christianity concentrate themselves so intensely on a certain, ineffable relational knowledge of a person—Jesus—that I am quickly disoriented when you try to prise away the moral and ethical teachings that more and more people are … Continue reading

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Simply As Sojourners

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out … Continue reading

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New Book: Economics Before Economics

A economist colleague of mine from the Czech Republic, Tomáš Evan, has just published a book of economic history, and I am listed as a coauthor (with another economist, Jonathan Warner) for contributions to two sections and some work editing the book overall. The project took about five years since Tomáš first approached me about being part of it, and the book ended up looking quite different than I expected when I agreed. Continue reading

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Plagiarism Does Not Disqualify Harvard’s President

The fact that President Gay has not been fired tells you what kind of institution Harvard is, and what their leaders understand is the role of the president. Continue reading

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Kids, Teens, Worship, and Tech

I’ve been thinking and writing about technology and how it affects worship for quite a number of years. When I wrote a series about ‘online church’ and the importance of in-person worship during COVID, one of my main concerns was … Continue reading

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Does the Old Testament Prescribe a ‘State’?

Genesis 47 is the part of the Joseph story that most people don’t remember, in which Joseph becomes a tyrant… Continue reading

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New Article in Journal of Media and Religion

I’m pleased to announce the publication of an essay, coauthored with Jon Radwan of Seton Hall University, in the Journal of Media and Religion: “YouTubing Eudaimoniae? Pachamama, Inspiration, and Manipulation in Platonic and Biblical Rhetorics.” Here is the abstract: Rhetorical … Continue reading

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Guest Post: Is COVID Bringing the Church to a Screeching Halt?

Our governments are against in-person Church attendance because congregating undermines their attempts to contain and subdue the pandemic that has thrown our world into such chaos. The Church needs not to be brave enough to defy the authorities merely for the sake of rebelling against human authorities. Neither should the Church be asleep when battles of cosmic nature are raging. Each congregation and believer need to seek out God’s will. When we know God’s will, we should be willing to lose our lives for the realization of that will; if we must heed the command to honor authorities and obey them, fine. However, we can still meet in our homes. In these small group settings, every member is indeed known, discipled, and held accountable to walk according to the calling they have received from God. Relationships flourish in small groups. Each person gets ample opportunity to exercise their gifts to build up the body in small groups. If we cannot meet in our thousands like we are used to, maybe God is drawing us back to what has worked in the past: house churches. The Bible warns that persecution will break out. Continue reading

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COVID, Tech, and Church: Some Links

I’ve accumulated quite a few readings that relate to the church’s response to the pandemic, which is something I’ve been writing about in the last year. I’m trying to stay away from scientific topics per se, because I’m not a scientist–I’m a biblical scholar, a pastor, and (dare I say it) a theologian. Nevertheless, the limits and proper place of science in society is an issue that I feel needs to be addressed by the church exercising its prophetic witness in society. Continue reading

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