the great christian reset
29 - 01/26 /10:56
If social shifts begin among the elites, something may be stirring. While taking questions at the MacDonald–Laurier Institute last month, historian Niall Ferguson offered a prediction. “We’re probably in the early phase of a Christian revival, and this reawakening will be an antidote to the great ‘awokening’ that has caused so much harm. I very much hope that will be the case.”
Adapted from The Great Christian Reset by Jonathan Van Meryn
Ferguson is one of the world’s most influential intellectuals. Twenty years ago, during the New Atheist moment, it would have been difficult for anyone of his stature to affirm Christianity. 2023 Ferguson’s wife Ayaan Hirsi Ali declared she had become a Christian. Ferguson—who identifies as a “lapsed atheist”—and Hirsi Ali were baptized with their two sons in 2023. He reports they are now “practicing, devout Christians, and it has made a profound change to my life.” Read More…
Adapted from The Great Christian Reset by Jonathan Van Meryn
Ferguson is one of the world’s most influential intellectuals. Twenty years ago, during the New Atheist moment, it would have been difficult for anyone of his stature to affirm Christianity. 2023 Ferguson’s wife Ayaan Hirsi Ali declared she had become a Christian. Ferguson—who identifies as a “lapsed atheist”—and Hirsi Ali were baptized with their two sons in 2023. He reports they are now “practicing, devout Christians, and it has made a profound change to my life.” Read More…
launch
23 - 01/26 /11:31
According to the New Testament Gospel of Mark, Jesus launched His mission at the Jordan River, where He was baptized by John. Then Jesus wandered off into the wilderness.
Soon after, John was arrested. With John the Baptist in prison the crowds attracted by his message of repentance dispersed to their homes. Among them were Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, who returned to their fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Read More…
Soon after, John was arrested. With John the Baptist in prison the crowds attracted by his message of repentance dispersed to their homes. Among them were Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, who returned to their fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Read More…
messenger
16 - 01/26 /11:18
According to the New Testament Gospel of Mark, God sent the messenger, the one Old Testament prophets said would prepare the way for Messiah. Strangely, God’s messenger was sent into the wilderness—an area devoid of people.
Sociologically, the forerunner of Messiah ought to have been sent to where the people were. Many churches today are preoccupied with sociology; how to gain an audience, how to attract a crowd. Read More…
Sociologically, the forerunner of Messiah ought to have been sent to where the people were. Many churches today are preoccupied with sociology; how to gain an audience, how to attract a crowd. Read More…
why these four gospels?
07 - 01/26 /17:44
20th century theologian F.F. Bruce explained, “Jesus wrote no book. What He said was treasured and repeated (and recited) by those who heard Him, and by their hearers in turn. To those who confessed Jesus as Lord, His words were at least as authoritative as the words of Moses and the Prophets.”
1st century theologian Ignatius is quoted to have said, “The best defense against false teaching is to pay heed to the prophets and especially to the Gospels, in which the passion has been revealed to us and the resurrection has been accomplished.” Read More…
1st century theologian Ignatius is quoted to have said, “The best defense against false teaching is to pay heed to the prophets and especially to the Gospels, in which the passion has been revealed to us and the resurrection has been accomplished.” Read More…
advent
01 - 12/25 /17:34
Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. The church in which I grew up dismissed Advent as a Pope-ish tradition … if it was mentioned at all. It’s not a Pope-ish tradition. Advent is an ancient, simple, attractive Christian ritual that is increasingly celebrated as believers focus upon simple participation and away from stage and performance.
Advent’s origins are opaque. This candlelight ritual arose mysteriously and organically sometime during the fifth century in far western Europe. Advent originated among recent converts to Christianity, perhaps in Normandy or the Pyrenees mountains. It arose from cultures that had been animistic; believing that material objects—hills, trees, streams, Attila the Hun’s sword of mars—house some spiritual essence that impacts humanity. Read More…
Advent’s origins are opaque. This candlelight ritual arose mysteriously and organically sometime during the fifth century in far western Europe. Advent originated among recent converts to Christianity, perhaps in Normandy or the Pyrenees mountains. It arose from cultures that had been animistic; believing that material objects—hills, trees, streams, Attila the Hun’s sword of mars—house some spiritual essence that impacts humanity. Read More…
arresting christian pastors
16 - 10/25 /13:03
The tyrants ruling China dread citizens who think for themselves.
More particularly they fear those who follow Christ—who refuse to bow to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their fear is once again on display; the CCP is once again conducting a broad roundup of pastors who lead underground churches in China. Read More…
More particularly they fear those who follow Christ—who refuse to bow to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their fear is once again on display; the CCP is once again conducting a broad roundup of pastors who lead underground churches in China. Read More…
the answer is love and always love
24 - 09/25 /10:19
One of Charlie Kirk’s favorite Bible verses, Isaiah 6:8. "Here I am, Lord. Send me.” More than anything, Charlie wanted to do, not his will, but God's will.
….. Excerpts from Erika Kirk’s memorial for her husband
Over these past 11 days, through all the pain, never before have I found as much comfort as I now do. And the words of Our Lord's Prayer: Thy will be done. God's love was revealed to me on the very day my husband was murdered. Read More…
….. Excerpts from Erika Kirk’s memorial for her husband
Over these past 11 days, through all the pain, never before have I found as much comfort as I now do. And the words of Our Lord's Prayer: Thy will be done. God's love was revealed to me on the very day my husband was murdered. Read More…
a step closer to losing everyting
13 - 09/25 /11:18
“The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in politics without fear of violence. To lose that is to risk losing everything. Charlie Kirk—and his family—just lost everything. As a country, we came a step closer to losing everything, too.
By Ezra Klein, columnist for New York Times
“You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way.
Read More…
By Ezra Klein, columnist for New York Times
“You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way.
Read More…
dark horror story in scripture
18 - 08/25 /16:33
The conclusion of the OT book of Judges is a dark horror story of gang rape and murder.
Centuries before David became king of Israel, “A Levite from a remote area in the hill country took a concubine from Bethlehem.” A Levite was a member of the Israelite tribe of Levi who served as a kind of assistant priest. A concubine could be a second-class wife, or a sexual partner or simply a female servant living under a man’s protection.
This story in Judges suggests a father entered into a contract to marry off his daughter to a Levite. Read More…
Centuries before David became king of Israel, “A Levite from a remote area in the hill country took a concubine from Bethlehem.” A Levite was a member of the Israelite tribe of Levi who served as a kind of assistant priest. A concubine could be a second-class wife, or a sexual partner or simply a female servant living under a man’s protection.
This story in Judges suggests a father entered into a contract to marry off his daughter to a Levite. Read More…
'zionist' contains multitudes
23 - 07/25 /17:57
~ By Rabbi Avi Shafran columnist for Ami Magazine ~
Am I a Zionist? Yes and no. Either answer is true. The word, something of a war cry these days, seems to have lost a clear meaning. In truth it has multiple. Teasing out each can help us understand Jews, antisemitism and the Middle East.
As a Haredi Jew—we dislike the too-often pejorative descriptor “ultra-Orthodox”—I don’t subscribe to the foundational principles of the Zionist movement that Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl founded in the late 19th century. That movement, which believed that Jewish nationalism—the creation of a political state akin to other countries—was the solution to antisemitism, resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel. Read More…
Am I a Zionist? Yes and no. Either answer is true. The word, something of a war cry these days, seems to have lost a clear meaning. In truth it has multiple. Teasing out each can help us understand Jews, antisemitism and the Middle East.
As a Haredi Jew—we dislike the too-often pejorative descriptor “ultra-Orthodox”—I don’t subscribe to the foundational principles of the Zionist movement that Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl founded in the late 19th century. That movement, which believed that Jewish nationalism—the creation of a political state akin to other countries—was the solution to antisemitism, resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel. Read More…
political theater
14 - 07/25 /17:34
July 1925 Tennessee schoolteacher John Thomas Scopes was put on trial for violating the state’s Butler Act, which decreed it illegal to teach evolution in any state-funded school. 100 years ago Tennessee law prohibited teachers from denying the biblical account of Creation. Our modern approach to education is to prohibit teachers from teaching the Bible’s Creation story.
Adapted from an article by David Mamet.
Scopes, like Rosa Parks three decades later, volunteered to stand as the defendant in a case designed to test the law. Scopes was found guilty and fined, the fine subsequently rescinded. Tennessee repealed the Butler Act in 1967. Read More…
Adapted from an article by David Mamet.
Scopes, like Rosa Parks three decades later, volunteered to stand as the defendant in a case designed to test the law. Scopes was found guilty and fined, the fine subsequently rescinded. Tennessee repealed the Butler Act in 1967. Read More…
existential threats
25 - 06/25 /11:14
Existential threats surround us. News headlines and social media are packed with dire warnings about climate change, artificial intelligence, nuclear war, pandemics, immigration and more. These are threats to our very existence. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
According to Andrew Hartz, founder of the Open Therapy Institute, editors and influencers identifying some “existential threat” are not evoking the philosophy of Sartre or Camus. Hartz suggests naming something an “existential threat” reveals that issue is deeply tied to that person’s own fear of death or their need for purpose. Read More…
According to Andrew Hartz, founder of the Open Therapy Institute, editors and influencers identifying some “existential threat” are not evoking the philosophy of Sartre or Camus. Hartz suggests naming something an “existential threat” reveals that issue is deeply tied to that person’s own fear of death or their need for purpose. Read More…