You're blessed that when truly broken, God gives you what you need the most. – Matthew 5:4 This is the second of a series of nine Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been laying down the ethics of an "upside down" kingdom in these short, pithy but profound declarations. Rather than focusing on how we feel or the way we operate our lives, or on our distinctive personalities or preferences, Jesus forces us to go much deeper and much broader at the same time. These are … [Read more...] about Devotions: Beatitudes (2) —Joyful Mourning
christian
Reasons: Why I am a Christian Part 2
Every year, the translator at our pediatric hospital asks this question: What are the four hardest words to translate? He will pause for a moment and then say, Your child is dead. Every time I hear it, I wonder how many times he has had to say that phrase. Every year, I think the tally must be a little higher. Fixed in every medical provider's mind are similar moments of unsettling and stunning grief. Death, crippling injury, and disability rarely happen in the dramatic TV show ways. They are ordinary and … [Read more...] about Reasons: Why I am a Christian Part 2
Reasons: Why I am a Christian
"How can you believe in God and science at the same time?" Even though I am rarely asked this question so plainly, it is often implied in conversation. Many atheistic advocates think that there is a conflict between the two. They may suspect that a belief in the supernatural is used primarily to explain the physical world with non-physical means and to "fill in the gaps" for conundrums for which there is no better or more reasonable determination. They may believe that beliefs are driven by a search for meaning … [Read more...] about Reasons: Why I am a Christian
Success, Failure and the Protestant Work Ethic
Not long ago I wrote an Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) blog post about my experiences on the tenure track, sharing my concerns about whether I would get tenure and contemplating my priorities. I wanted to think through whether tenure even should be my primary goal, and what I would give up to achieve it. It was encouraging to me to see that I'm not alone, and that others feel some of the same pressures I do. Thank you to those who commented. Looking back, though, I realized that I made some generalizations that I … [Read more...] about Success, Failure and the Protestant Work Ethic
Why I’m (Still) A Christian — Part II
Last time around, I wrote about some conditions which I would consider necessary to a Christian faith, but that are not sufficient for me to be satisfied with one. If you're not familiar with the notion of necessary and sufficient conditions, let's think about what you need to start a campfire. Generally speaking, kindling and firewood are both necessary elements; it's very hard to start a fire by lighting firewood directly, and kindling alone won't burn long enough. However, those two things alone are not sufficient … [Read more...] about Why I’m (Still) A Christian — Part II