March madness is finally over, reaching its frenzied climax in the big NCAA men’s final. Even though North Carolina triumphed, many were amazed that Gonzaga had finally made it to the big NCAA show. This year was the ultimate showdown between the new basketball (Gonzaga) and the “blue bloods” (North Carolina). But now that the […]

The Benedict Option (Sentinel Press, 2017) by Rob Dreher is a new, best-selling Christian book which caught my attention when it became the cover story of the recent issue of Christianity Today. The subtitle of the book is “A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.” What is the Benedict Option? The Benedict “option” is […]

It is not unusual to hear statements which tend to pit social justice concerns against evangelistic concerns. Do we have to choose between “saving souls” and “saving society”? Evangelism, in this usage, is about the proclamation of the good news that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, sinful people can be forgiven and […]

The 2016 General Conference expressed its will in no uncertain terms that the majority of United Methodists affirm the historic view of Christian marriage as a divinely sanctioned means of grace between a man and a woman. Other marital arrangements, even if sanctioned by the State, do not constitute, in the view of the majority, […]

Lord Acton, the great historian and parliament member in 19th century Britain coined the famous phrase, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Indeed, the abuse of political power run long and deep in the storied chapters of human history. This should not be taken as an indictment against either the concept of political power […]

English continues to be the fastest growing language in the world. This is a sign of a healthy, robust language. Newly emerging words also act like a cultural thermometer revealing where we are as a culture. We are aided in this analysis by the Oxford Dictionary staff who each year chooses a “word of the […]

Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. Millions around the country are rejoicing, while millions of others are in deep lament. Christians, like Americans in general, were also divided about the choices we were presented with. I wonder if, despite the polarization of this election, there might be a few points […]

OK, the election is over. Take a deep breath. The sky has not fallen. God is still on the throne. What should we expect regarding the future of Christianity in North America? Let’s devote this blog article to thinking about this. I grew up in a society which clearly favored and privileged the Judeo-Christian worldview […]

“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19). As United Methodists we have been in a spiritual desert and wasteland for decades. We have slowly watched our beloved Wesleyan heritage erode and […]

It was in the Spring of 2005 when I received a phone call from my friend and colleague Robert Coleman. Robert, his friends call him Clem, taught evangelism here at Asbury for many years and is back here now as an adjunct teaching once again. But, in 2005 we were colleagues together at another institution. […]