This post is about my son, my husband, the Atlanta Braves, sports, and the Gospel.
Feel free to respond to any or all of my wonderings.

My four year old, Thomas, is obsessed with the Atlanta Braves (pro baseball team for any non-sports lovers). What does this look like in the life of a four year old?Read more

What ought church involvement in social reform or social ministry look like? Prescriptions for evangelical social engagement are always very interesting. As believers we certainly have a responsibility to investigate Scripture that we might understand our role in the community. This of course is the impetus behind such great works as Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture and even Don Carson’s more recent reflections on the same topic, Christ and Culture Revisited in which he called us to a robust biblical theology that will produce

a biblical vision that focuses on Christ and his cross, on the links between this world and the next, on bold Christian living and faithful witness, and on a large-scale vision that makes the world our parish while loving the neighbor next door, raises our eyes above ourselves, and delights in the glory of God (228).

What a wonderful goal: biblical theology leading to a biblical vision of self-sacrifice that ultimately glorifies God. This is a prescription for the Christian concerned with more than himself, a Christian concerned for society—a worthy implication of Christ and his cross. 

We need prescriptions, we need to understand as accurately as possible what we ought to do when it comes to engaging with those outside the church. The Bible is clear about the ministries of evangelism and discipleship, but it is less clear about the role of the Christian or the church and society-at-large. Verses like Galatians 6:10 are profound yet few. In short, prescriptions are helpful. However we need descriptions as well. Read more

I saw U2 in concert Wednesday night. The concert was in Buenos Aires.  No, I didn't jet down to Argentina for the evening.  I had to settle for the silver screen version in Houston.  But it was still quite a show.  My 3-D glasses did their job, and, as I heard one fan say, "I could see the sweat dripping off Bono's nose and could tell which chords The Edge was playing."  The set list included old-school songs from albums like War, and the video/light/computer-graphic displays were spectacular.  I can't imagine what it was like to actually be there, swaying with the massive crowd packed into a football stadium.

But I was struck by the politically-charged nature of the concert.  I guess I wasn't surprised, being long familiar with the band's history of social commentary on everything from the Northern Ireland "Troubles" to the civil rights movement in America.  And U2 is known for it's numerous Christian references and it's heart-felt desire to relieve suffering in places like AIDS-ravaged Africa.  However, this concert was marked by the "Coexist" campaign, something popular in recent years even to the extent of spawning its own clothing line. If you are not familiar with the bumper stickers that are supposedly even being handed out in Houston-area public schools, the "Coexist" moniker is spelled with an Islamic crescent ("C"), a Jewish Star of David ("X"), and a Christian cross ("t"). The huge video screens flashed the symbols before the crowd, and Bono sported a white bandana emblazoned with the word.  As he sang, Bono made reference to the fact that all three faiths can be traced back to Abraham but at times seemed to hint that they were essentially alike.

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I think this interview took place in 1971.  Billy Graham is a winsome follower of Jesus. I think you'll enjoy these.

Part 1

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Part 2Read more