Tag Archives: Lent

Warning Note to Culture Warriors and Nationalists. Jesus says and does stuff that make all sides want to kill him.

Posted on March 25, 2015 by PaulVK

Imagine you heard of a man who had raised someone from the dead. Imagine you could find proof of it in the man he raised. What would you do?  John 12:9–11 (NET) 9 Now a large crowd of Judeans learned … Continue reading →

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Why is a Decaying Windmill Glorious and a Cell Tower an Eye-sore?

Posted on March 20, 2015 by PaulVK

Attention Shoppers!  CS Lewis as he so often does perfectly captures our assumptions about how we think God should work in our world. We, with our modern democratic and arithmetical presuppositions would so have liked and expected all men to … Continue reading →

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How Will Humanity Receive Eternal Life?

Posted on March 13, 2015 by PaulVK

The leading project of the Scientific Revolution is to give humankind eternal life. In his book Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind historian Yuval Harari lays out what he calls “the Giglamesh Project”. Just as in the ancient epic poem the … Continue reading →

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Why Religious Hopes Are So Corrupt and how Jesus Approaches the Dilemma

Posted on March 6, 2015 by PaulVK

Three Approaches to a Hard World Most people I know and meet tend to fall into three groups when it comes to finding hope for the world: Religious Hope: If this world’s great mess is going to be resolved it will … Continue reading →

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Can You Save the World From Oscar’s Podium?

Posted on February 27, 2015 by PaulVK

Oscar Speeches Oscar speeches have a predictable pattern: Be humble: express your surprise and elation at receiving this award Role the credits: Name all the people who were involved in the film that you received the award for. Promote a … Continue reading →

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Has Lent Become an Individual-Trinket-Lifestyle-Accessory?

Posted on February 20, 2015 by PaulVK

Rediscovering Lent I don’t believe I heard the word “Lent” until I was in college. Christmas I knew. Easter I knew, but not Lent. I don’t remember seeing kids with ashes smeared on their foreheads in the late winter or spring … Continue reading →

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Branden Eich, the Culture War and Palm Sunday

Posted on April 11, 2014 by PaulVK

Ideas Carry the World The Brendan Eich episode is the latest in our ongoing cultural conversation about belief, power and freedom in a pluralistic context. The world is filled with competing ideas on just about everything, and those ideas create, destroy, … Continue reading →

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How A Shamed, Female, Sexually Sinful Heretic Becomes Jesus’ First Successful Evangelist

Posted on March 20, 2014 by PaulVK

The Death of God Elie Wiesel in Night tells the story of Akiba Drumer, a rabbi from a small town in Poland. He was old and bent, his lips constantly trembling. He was always praying, in the block, at work, in … Continue reading →

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Good News for Offensive, Manipulative, Hypocritical, Conservative, Orthodox, Religious People

Posted on March 15, 2014 by PaulVK

Night Last week we talked about how God’s “no show” in our time of need has driven many moderns to believe there is no God. Elie Wiesel’s classic Night talks about how the prisoners of the Nazi death camps came … Continue reading →

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