Along Came a Spider, Part 1 Shortly after Angela, Madeline and I moved to Omaha, we experienced a season of horror in our new house. The otherwise pleasant parsonage housing our new little pastoral family took a turn for the worse one morning when I came down the basement st... Read more
Is the Church Going Through? "No matter what, the Seventh‑day Adventist Church is going straight through to the kingdom," a veteran leader declared. "Even if the General Conference president and I are the only ones left in the church, I'm staying with the ship." Read more
A Church Bully Transformed America is at war — not just with ISIS but with itself. Civility vaporized during last year’s presidential campaign, and since then our nation has become even nastier. Campuses are convulsed with hate disguised as tolerance. Politics is polarizing... Read more
The Only Lasting Legacy The All Saints Church, in the perfectly named English village of Aldwincle, dates back to the 1300s and was the site of countless weddings, funeral, baptisms and baby dedications. By the 20th century, however, the local parish could no longer sust... Read more
Defending the Faith This summer I have the burden of traveling to Oxford University for my doctoral residency to study the writings of C.S. Lewis. I realize that many of you will feel immediate sympathy for me as I wander the ancient streets of London, peruse ancient... Read more
An Autopsy of Our Death Death is the only certainty of life in this world. Yet death is a defeated enemy. In almost taunting words, Scripture declares, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” and “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through... Read more
Life Markers At the time of this column I am wrapping up my second year of Ph.D. studies (and, no, I am not almost done). This semester’s final torture came in the way of a qualitative study involving conversion narratives. Our class interviewed 36 people abou... Read more
First-Degree Grace Football all-pro Aaron Hernandez had everything to live for, seemingly. His starring Super Bowl performance earned him a $41 million contract extension. He had it made! Read more
Essential Suffering Nothing heralds a holiday like stores loading their shelves with celebration-specific sweets three months prior to said holiday. The day after Halloween, Christmas candy is placed on display, the day after Christmas we are treated to Valentine’s D... Read more
