Crossing the divides
Promoting Dialogue Between Generations
BABYLON 2020: The Morning After
I don’t lose sleep over who’ll win the election. What keeps me awake at night is reflecting on the misplaced hope Christians put in the outcome. Will it matter who wins the White House if Jesus followers lose their way?
DISSATISFACTION: The Mother of all Sins
What was the original sin? If you say it was eating the forbidden fruit, you’d be wrong. The sin that turned paradise into thorns was not taking that bite, but…
VERBAL CYANIDE
Just when you think Twitter can’t get more toxic or Facebook more fractious, the impending elections are about to unleash a social media war of poisonous words. Instead of joining the fray, you might want to…
THE NEW SALEM WITCH TRIALS
When the hysteria of the witch hunt eclipses the rule of law, justice becomes a warped, alien concept. No one is safe when the lynch mob is given…
FIFTY SHADES OF BLACK
Eric Metaxas recently created a twitter storm when he tweeted that Jesus was white. The social media mob wanted to lynch him at high noon. Most argued that Jesus was a Palestinian who was closer to black. Maybe, Mr. Metaxas simply wanted to stir up a …
GOING HOME
Jesus told a story about a rebel who ran off to the Far Country, only to end up penniless, friendless, and famished. He must have felt like the ragged young man I saw on a New York City sidewalk holding a cardboard sign which said, “I wanna go home.” Perhaps you are looking…
Our Flawed Heroes
Happy 224th Birthday, America! Or so we wish. But this Fourth of July is anything but happy. It seems that our nation has descended into madness. While governors and mayors dither, anarchists run amok through our streets. I feel like I’m watching…
Systemic Racism or Sin?
In 1973, Karl Menninger wrote a bestseller, Whatever Became of Sin? In it,the renowned psychologist projected that eventually the word “sin” would disappear from the human vernacular. All talk of sin and wrongdoing would be replaced by…
Racial Tensions & Job’s Friends
Kevin Bacon recently chatted virtually with Jimmy Fallon about the current racial tension in America. The actor said, “For an old guy like me, born in 1958, to witness the passion of young people for social justice…
Between Two Mountains
Alicia Garza, whose Facebook post gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement, recently wrote, “I have to be honest. I feel like I live in a constant state of rage, and I think a lot of black people do.” Recent protests prove that…
Who is that Masked Man?
We will remember this COVID 19 pandemic as the season of masks. Hopefully, wearing them has helped. But, like too many things in this age of polarization, masks have sparked controversy. Some refuse to wear them in the name of freedom…
The Alpha, the Omega and the In Between
In reading Dr. Bob’s recent blog “Caught Between Two Paradises,” I was fascinated by the title and underlying theme. It caused me to recall memories of my own life and the deep thoughts and introspection I had engaged in while chasing after …
Take a Deep Breath and Listen
The rage of this past week may foreshadow a more violent future. It’s beginning to look eerily like the culture wars of antebellum America—just before they erupted into a bloody Civil War…
When the Wolf Comes
Some 24.7 million kids will go to sleep tonight in a home without their biological father. One-third are being raised by a single mother. Another 10-20 percent are raised by their grandparents. The U.S. Department of Education says…
Laying Down Memorial Stones
Boomers may remember this golden oldie from Sam Cooke: “Don’t Know Much About History.” He could have been singing about today’s kids. In a January 21, 2017 New York Post article, “Why schools have stopped teaching American history,” …