When my two favorite singer-songwriters both released albums within a single week, I was reminded of the prophet Joel’s promise that “your old men will dream dreams.” Paul Simon will be 82 in October, and Bruce Cockburn just turned 78,…
Of two minds: Iain McGilchrist and the tyranny of left hemisphere religion
It has become commonplace to speak of fundamentalists of the left and fundamentalists of the right. On my Facebook feed, I frequently see posts claiming only Christians will escape the lake of fire. Scroll down a bit and one of…
Stuck in the middle with Jesus: The future of C.S. Lewis evangelicalism
Since the 2016 election, pundits, preachers and politicians have been asking why more than 80% of white evangelical voters threw their support behind the most corrupt, ill-informed, vulgar and intentionally divisive politician in American history. Gradually, a consensus emerged. Donald…
Shelter from the storm: The Asbury revival as Woodstock 2.0
The Baptist church of my youth didn’t have a revival until we called a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas. Then we had a revival whether we liked it or not. I walked the aisle on the final night. At 20…
If Jesus wants us to forgive everybody, why is he always talking about hell?
I recently highlighted the Jesus-Joshua problem: Jesus wants us to love our enemies. Joshua wants us to slaughter them. Both can’t be right. But what about the demand for justice that reverberates throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation? If we…
A midnight train to Nowhere: How Journey’s signature song anticipated the rise of MAGA
Neal Schon’s blood froze in his veins as he watched a grinning Jonathan Cain lead a Mar-a-Lago ballroom crammed with MAGA celebrities in the chorus of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Schon is the only original member of Journey, the arena rock…
Solving the Jesus-Joshua Problem
When I was an early adolescent, I decided to read the Bible straight through. I had been exposed to carefully curated snippets of Joshua, but the full genocidal thrust of the narrative was a revelation. I couldn’t help feeling sorry…
The gospel of universal compassion
A hybrid God An 82-year-old man is attacked by a hammer-wielding fanatic and political celebrities snicker and sneer. Nancy Pelosi has been demonized by the conservative movement so viciously, and for so long, that hyper-partisans like Donald Trump Jr., Kari…
The white church isn’t dying; it’s in exile
In mid-September, I returned to the church of my childhood, McLaurin Memorial Baptist Church in Edmonton, Alberta. The last time I had been inside the church was for the 1998 funeral of my mother. There are still a handful of…