Tag Archives: The Book of Samuel

In a world that cannot afford stable happiness, Jesus denies us regime change, but offers us himself, and with him more than we could ask or imagine.

Posted on June 9, 2017 by PaulVK

The Good Life It begins by seeing, or imagining “the good life”. We see it in others. We see it on TV. We naturally want it for ourselves and we try to figure out how to get it, and after … Continue reading →

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In David’s Moral Failure we see how God uses Contrite Rebels to Reconcile the World to Himself.

Posted on November 18, 2016 by PaulVK

What is the Bible For?  The two predominant assumptions about the Bible in our culture are these: The Bible is an ancient book that possesses a lot of sometimes interesting but archaic stories reflecting the religious beliefs of people ignorant … Continue reading →

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What should you tell your children now that Donald Trump is President-Elect

Posted on November 10, 2016 by PaulVK

What do we tell the children? The first piece I saw freaking out over the Trump victory was from the Huffington Post on What do we tell the children? When I hear that I begin to wonder “what HAVE you … Continue reading →

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Hell is Family

Posted on November 4, 2016 by PaulVK

Hell is Other People Here is the plot description from Wikipedia of Jean Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit”. Three damned souls, Joseph Garcin, Inès Serrano, and Estelle Rigault, are brought to the same room in Hell and locked inside by … Continue reading →

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How the World’s Relational-Economy Turns us into Opportunistic Sycophants and What to do about it

Posted on October 21, 2016 by PaulVK

  Leaning Into the Future Future telling is one of the greatest skills that we value. To know the future of the stock market, future lottery number winners, future sports scores leads to money and power. Nate Silver became famous … Continue reading →

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Life is hard. You are more morally corrupt than you wish to admit, but God is more surprisingly gracious than circumstances imply and he wishes to lead you into his own generosity

Posted on October 14, 2016 by PaulVK

The Big Lie Most of us live in a culture that is constantly bombarding us with the message that “normal” life is happy, wealthy and long. We are being lead to believe that everyone else out there has enough money to pay their … Continue reading →

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How to live when the Age of Decay crushes your Utopian Dream

Posted on October 7, 2016 by PaulVK

American Longing for Utopia There was a very interesting piece in the New Yorker this week reviewing two recent books on American Utopian communities. Two of the communities most Americans with some knowledge of history would know would be the … Continue reading →

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Jesus Invites us Onto an Un-natural path that can only be followed if we believe in his Lordship

Posted on September 28, 2016 by PaulVK

The Big Debate Last Monday Night the world watched the big debate. Everyone knew the path to victory for both sides. Could Donald keep his cool? Could Hillary get under his skin? Well we found out the answer. He could … Continue reading →

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Living Predestination in the Daily Drama of God’s Word or Silence

Posted on September 23, 2016 by PaulVK

Teaching Calvin at Berkeley Earlier this month a professor of history at Berkeley shared in the New York Times how he uses John Calvin in his class to expand the imagination of his students. He lays out for them quotes … Continue reading →

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David and his Basket of Deplorables

Posted on September 15, 2016 by PaulVK

Natural Religion Religion is the most natural of human behaviors. Both religious and non-religious critics have long been able to trace the contours of our natural religion. God is a projection of our wishes and anxieties God is a projection … Continue reading →

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