Every once in a while a kerfuffle bubbles up about whether or not the United States was founded as a Christian nation. The question can take many forms. Were the Founding Fathers personally committed Christians? Did they expect the Bible or parts of it to be the bedrock of the country? Was Christianity intended to be the unofficial established religion of the land?
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Murder, Apathy and Urban Legends
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Kitty Genovese on March 13, 1964. So here I rerun my post from two years ago on this landmark episode in American culture.
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A Lukewarm Interpretation of Hot and Cold: Revelation 3:15-16
“Because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” This verse from Revelation 3 certainly must rank as one of the most misused in the Bible. In the last month alone I have heard two speakers give it the same incorrect interpretation.
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The 2014 Andys
My favorites from my reading last year? Here they are:
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Nominees for the 2014 Andys
The nominees are in. Here’s what I read this past year. It’s my usual mix of history, some fiction, a couple memoirs, a couple business books and, of course, some IVP books after they were published. The winners will soon be announced.
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Farewell, Jim Hoover
Jim Hoover has given us the sad news (for us) but the good news (for him) that December 31, 2013, will officially be his last day at IVP.
I could try to measure the contribution Jim has made in number of books edited or pages published in his more than thirty-five years with IVP, but that would be wholly inadequate. He has been a work horse, but much more. He has been our sheet anchor of wisdom as we have faced innumerable decisions and quandaries over the years.
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The End of Ender’s Game
I came to Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game late, even though I’ve been a sci-fi fan all my life. What impressed me was its emotional depth and philosophical sophistication for a book that was in the young adult genre before that category hit the big time in recent years.
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The Most Misused Verse in the Bible
We read it in devotional books. We sing it in church. We meditate on it in our quiet times. God’s command in Psalm 46:10–“Be still, and know that I am God.”
Unfortunately, the verse has nothing to do with what we usually think it does–being quiet before God, not being frantic and busy, or maybe getting ourselves ready to hear a sermon. No, it’s not about any of these things. This is a verse which has been violently ripped out of context time and time again. What does it really mean?
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The First Thanksgiving 3: How the Story Was Misremembered
How did we come to think that the Pilgrims
- were rugged individualists when they were strongly bound to community?
- were patriots first and committed Christians second?
- would support Thanksgiving Day football even though “the 1650s the Plymouth General Court prescribed fines for individuals who engaged in sports on days of thanksgiving” (p. 145)?
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The First Thanksgiving 2: What We Don’t Know Is Inspiring
The First Thanksgiving by Robert Tracy McKenzie corrects a lot of the errors and myths that surround that original celebration by the Pilgrims in 1620.
In telling us the real story, McKenzie points us to more fruitful lessons we might learn than the warm feeling we get when we think about those independent-minded Pilgrims seeking new lands and freedom, and thanking God for helping them on the way. For example:
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