Last week, Brigham Young University, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced they were changing their honor code policy to remove the ban on “homosexual behavior.” While the details are still being ironed out in terms of practical application, staff at the Honor Code Office stated that LGBTQ students…
‘1917’ Movie: A Message Worth Dying For (No Spoilers)
This past week I went to see ‘1917,’ a movie I would highly recommend to anyone who, like me, is fascinated by the history of the First World War. The film follows two British soldiers on a mission to deliver a life-saving message to a battalion walking into a German trap. They must travel across…
The False Religion of Yogi Tea
In case you needed yet another reason to believe that our culture is vapidly self-absorbed, look no further than the tea tags of Yogi Tea. Trust me. I’ve been collecting them over the past week, shaking my head at the absurdity of the messaging. It’s not enough that this mentality of “I’m not religious, I’m…
You Don’t Understand Frost’s Poem, “The Road Not Taken”
Chances are you’ve heard the oft-repeated last lines of Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Maybe you’ve repeated those words as a life motto or a boost to morale in the midst of a pivotal life change. Perhaps you’ve even internalized them as a New Year’s resolution of sorts, a reminder to live off-the-beaten…
10 Family Friendly Ways to Put “Christ” Back in Christmas
Traditions have a deeper hold on us than we realize, and at no other time of year than Christmas is this truth more prevalent or more easily recognizable. Christmas is first and foremost about the birth of our Lord and Savior. As Christians, this is a truth we affirm wholeheartedly in principle but too often…
Better Not Pout: A (Dark) Christmas Poem
‘Twas the night before Christmas when came over knoll Seven men hauling haversacks weighted with coal. Their journey was labored, the start came by scythe- A car crash, an illness, a fall from great height.
Thanks-Living: A Reminder for Christians on Thanksgiving
"I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving: thanks-living. How is this to be done? By a general cheerfulness of manner, by an obedience to the command of Him by whose mercy we live, by a perpetual, constant delighting of ourselves in the Lord, and by a submission of our desires to His will."
Here’s Why You Need a Biblical Theology of Suffering
Throughout the course of history, the question of suffering has been at the forefront of philosophy. Why do we suffer? Why disease, famine, and death? Why rape and murder? Why me? I don’t think I go too far in saying that our perspective on suffering is intimately tied to our understanding of God.
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker: The Vampiric Perversion of Communion
While many are familiar with the story of Dracula, few have bothered to read Stoker’s classic epistolary novel. It follows, through letters and journal entries, the lives of Johnathan Harker─prisoner of the Count’s castle─and his cohorts who will stop at nothing to rid the world of vampiric evil. But it’s not all fangs and fright,…
Mindless Entertainment: The Curse of the Headless Horseman
This week I was going to write a post about Washington Irving’s famous tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I had planned an elaborate metaphor about how the headless horseman is representative of the modern evangelical church which has severed its body from the head of Christ, casting aside His lordship in favor of a…
