Why Invest in the Work of Christian Professors? A Strategic Approach to Changing the World for Good

October 5, 2020

Today is World Teacher Day according to UNESCO, and my mother sent me this quote from Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where influence stops.” Its an appropriate moment to stop and think about why education matters, and since Thanksgiving (Canada) is coming up this weekend, to give thanks for teachers, and even give some encouragement and support if you’re able. … More Why Invest in the Work of Christian Professors? A Strategic Approach to Changing the World for Good

The Bible and Science: Two Complementary Ways of Knowing the World

September 24, 2020

This guest blog was written by Dr. Jean Bieri, who has a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from the University of Paris-Sud, France, where he studied with Nobel Prize-winning professor A. Fert. He also has a PhD in Old Testament Studies from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Here he invites the reader to a conversation between his two areas of expertise, showing their compatibility, and their relationship to chaos and order. … More The Bible and Science: Two Complementary Ways of Knowing the World

Guest Blog: The Temptation of Chronological Snobbery

September 18, 2020

My guest blogger and American colleague Stan Wallace elaborates on C. S. Lewis’ concept of “Chronological Snobbery.” Lewis was a great 20 century British apologist of the Christian faith who had academic positions at both Oxford and Cambridge. He is also the famous fiction writer of the Narnia Chronicles. … More Guest Blog: The Temptation of Chronological Snobbery

Summer Reading: _People of the Book_ by Geraldine Brooks

August 22, 2020

Like the film The Red Violin (1998), the plot of People of the Book (2008) follows hundreds of years in the life of an object–but rather than a violin, the focus is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah (a rare illustrated Jewish devotion book). This history, too, is a series of dramatic episodes (from 1480 to 2002) that keep returning to a modern present that is full of intrigue. So this is a historical fiction page-turner by Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize winning author who can’t stop writing about religion. Remarkably, the story of a religious book turns out to read like a spy novel. … More Summer Reading: _People of the Book_ by Geraldine Brooks

Christianity’s Eccentricity: A Religion without an Ethnic Centre

August 19, 2020

Eccentric means literally off-centre, and more broadly, unconventional. This is key to the Christian faith. No ethnic group, city, or language lays claim as Christianity’s sacred centre. This is illustrated beautifully in a recent music video sent to me by Danny McCain in Nigeria. … More Christianity’s Eccentricity: A Religion without an Ethnic Centre

Songs of Lament as a form of Protest against COVID, Racism, Climate Change, and other Wounds

July 13, 2020

I’ve written and preached on the bedrock of joy that animates faith, but its equally true that church should be the best place for a broken heart to find welcome. But few of our worship songs today want to go to the dark places, ask the hard questions, and complain to God. Here I examine a few lament songs possible for Christian worship. … More Songs of Lament as a form of Protest against COVID, Racism, Climate Change, and other Wounds

Sing A New Song for Cultural Renewal: Hymns that Mention the Economy, Media, and Justice

June 22, 2020

Why are there so few spiritual songs about life on our planet–about the things that most Christians do with most of their time–tend gardens, buy groceries, engage in business, build homes, create artworks, do scientific experiments? There is an inherent dualism in much of our singing that confines it to “spiritual” matters of prayer, praise, church, and loving and serving our neighbours in generic ways. But Christians are called to be culture makers first–this is the blessing that God gives right off in Genesis 1:28: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!” (MSG) … More Sing A New Song for Cultural Renewal: Hymns that Mention the Economy, Media, and Justice

Everyone do Leisure Studies: Summer, Recreation, and Vocation

June 19, 2020

Summer officially begins in two days. COVID notwithstanding, its time to make plans to get away from work, spend more time outdoors, getting exercise, exploring creation, and investigating new landscapes and communities. We just got a used trampoline for the backyard, and we are planning a family bicycle trip this month. These kind of activities, … More Everyone do Leisure Studies: Summer, Recreation, and Vocation

Two Cheers for Zoom: Video Conferencing during COVID as a Gift without Presence

June 12, 2020

Zoom means fast. Zoom is so fast it connects two distant points almost instantly. In fact, Zoom assumes social distance, and to some extent the whole modern world is zooming away during COVID: families, friends, churches, businesses, governments, and even doctors. Zoom allows us to see and hear each other without getting infected by what the other person’s presence might bring with it. But I’m only giving two cheers for Zoom. … More Two Cheers for Zoom: Video Conferencing during COVID as a Gift without Presence