“Our textbooks today are much more focused on practical things.” The student’s comment, offered in a class on world language pedagogy as we discussed historical examples of language textbooks, stood out as requiring more response than I quite knew how to pack into the moment. It was true and it was false, depending on the…

“Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.”  2 Corinthians 12:14 (NIV) Earlier this month, the…

What is now jointly named Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day should serve as a reminder to Christian scholars. Some of our past brethren in the universities and Church used their power and intellectual abilities to justify the enslavement and mistreatment of Native Americans. But this day should also remind us of a noble band of Christian…

Bright Hermon, with the dayspring on thy brow, and silver streamlets leaping round thy feet,— Shout forth thy ceaseless praise!                                                   —Horatius Bonar, 1881, Hymns of Faith and Hope You would hardly think that observing the hippopotamus in Africa near the southern extent of the Great Rift Valley would somehow be connected to Mount…

Glanzer and Smith’s new book Stewarding Our Bodies: A Vision for Christian Student Affairs opens with a bold claim: “Christian student affairs professionals currently neglect students’ bodies” (11). Reflecting upon disturbing data that suggest as much, Glanzer and Smith argue that Student Affairs Leaders (SALs) should be instrumental in facilitating college students’ development in this…

Today, I want to commend to you a new documentary that was released on October 4 in select cities: Leap of Faith. The movie is directed by Nicolas Ma and produced by Morgan Neville, both of whom were involved in making the wonderful 2018 documentary on Mr Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Here I’ll also shout…

“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy…

Secularization is inexorable. It is happening right now, all around you. The half-life of faith is getting shorter and shorter. The tipping point is upon us and, when it comes, the end game will play out with astonishing rapidity. Here or there rosy-eyed souls will see a little flutter of faith and call it revival,…

One of my most memorable birthdays was a special gift from my wife. Although she was worn down from health challenges to our one-year-old son while living in Moscow, she gifted me with a whole day to spend at my favorite art gallery, the Tretyakov Gallery. Unfortunately, like most things in Russia, its marketing today…

In an age of political polarization and civil unrest, many have lost faith in universities as promoters of positive engagement in the public square. With only 36 percent of Americans confident in universities, public trust in higher education has fallen to historic lows. As protests rage, chancellors defend free speech while grasping in vain for…