A Lenten Year
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A Lenten Year

COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways we don’t want them changed. And it will change our Christmas celebrations in significant ways, but I’m wondering, as difficult as those changes will be, if the pandemic might have a positive impact on our celebrations. Could COVID-19 deepen our experience of Grace from Advent to Easter and…

Two Kinds of Salt

Two Kinds of Salt

“Has he lost his mind?”

This has become a regular reaction to what I find on my Twitter feed. American Christians, whom I have long respected for their discernment, are engaging their political enemies with the acumen of torch-bearing villagers. Certain that Jesus is on their side, any who disagree with them are considered minions of hell. I look at the church divided and I am sad – and glad we are more balanced in Canada.

Faith in a Secular Age: A Prayer for Owen Meany

Faith in a Secular Age: A Prayer for Owen Meany

It’s one of those books that can’t be read in bed because your unsuccessfully-stifled laughter will make it impossible for your spouse to sleep.

John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany is 30 years old this year and it’s time to encourage a new generation of readers, and those who missed it the first time around, to pick up this important novel.

Just a story?
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Just a story?

But what if stories are just as true as facts? Pretty much every culture in the world, past and present, that hasn’t yet bought into our modern worldview, believes this is the case. This includes the writers of biblical narratives, who sometimes put factual information aside in order to communicate far more important truths about relationships and human experience.

The Bible: Spoken Word or Revelation of God?
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The Bible: Spoken Word or Revelation of God?

It’s sort of like the difference between reading an encyclopedia and reading a long letter received from a distant and cherished friend or lover. Are the contents of each true – inerrant, if you will? Sure they are, but it is not the veracity of the information in the love letter that motivates you to devour every word – even the description of yesterday’s weather.

Game of Thrones: Gratuitous sexuality or powerful warning?
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Game of Thrones: Gratuitous sexuality or powerful warning?

Game of Thrones is art. It may be bad art or art to be avoided, but it is art. It is a product of our culture and it contributes to the discussion about what it means to be human. Christians have some important things to say on this topic, and should not exclude themselves from the table. All Christians should be paying attention to this conversation, and some Christians might need to pay attention to the contribution that Game of Thrones is making.