Skip to main content
Blog

Echoes of the Genuinely Human

During my “tween” years, I devoured novels about Christian boys of my age. For example, I read most, if not all, of the Moody Press thirty-six-volume series about the Sugar Creek Gang, a group of boys who encouraged each other in maintaining their shared Christian identity. Even though I am grateful for the “wholesome” image…
July 27, 2026
Blog

Christian Higher Education at a Crossroads

Ron Highfield's The Christian University and the Academic Establishment arrives at a particularly fraught moment in the history of American higher education. Confidence in the university as an institution has eroded dramatically. Political polarization has drawn colleges and universities into broader cultural conflicts. Debates over academic freedom, diversity initiatives, institutional mission, free speech, and ideological…
July 23, 2026
Blog

Mount Rushmore of Civil Communication (Part 2)

When asked to do a second edition of our book, Authentic Communication: Christian Speech Engaging Culture (IVP Academic), my co-author, Todd Lewis, and I thought of the people who have most influenced our thinking about Christian engagement in an oft-hostile world. Influenced by Michael Michalko’s book, Thinker Toys, we created our Mt. Rushmore of individuals…
July 22, 2026
Blog

Mount Rushmore of Civil Communication (Part 1)

“Who’s on your Mt. Rushmore?” This is one of my favorite questions to ask my students. When it comes to fashion, politics, theology, or potentially volatile social issues, who most informs your thinking?  Specifically, give me four names of people who have your ear.  The Mt. Rushmore idea is based on Michael Michalko’s idea of…
July 21, 2026

Subscribe

for new content notifications, access to video and audio conversations with our writers, and invitations to our events.

Blog

Coaching for Christ: How Faith Informs Coaching and Christian Education

Ever since Arthur Holmes published The Idea of a Christian College, scholars with a stake in Christian higher education have reflected on the relationship between faith and learning. With entire works devoted to scholarship, teaching, and student affairs at Christian colleges and universities, it is perplexing that the athletics department at these institutions has not…
January 17, 2023
Blog

Breaking up Fights and Race Relations

You ever leave a conversation and then wanted to kick yourself because you did not say something you wanted to say? I think we all have done that. Well, I can do one better than that. I have written a book titled Beyond Racial Division. The book is published, and yet the other day, while riding…
January 16, 2023
Blog

Petitions Against Professors, Part 2: Iron and Weeds

In the previous post, I compared the arguments of overwhelmed NYU students to those of their organic chemistry professor. NYU professor Stephanie Lee’s tweet sums it up: “I could write compelling defenses for each party - students, Prof. Jones, my department, NYU admin - bc everyone is operating under different pressures.”Stephanie Lee, Twitter post, October…
January 13, 2023
Blog

Savoring Students and Their Stories

Beloved, let us be loving one another. Because the love is from God! And everyone loving has been born from God, and knows God. 1 John 4:7 DLNT After writing a post for my blog on the importance of savoring the season of Christmas for worshipping our Savior, I realized the need to do the…
January 11, 2023
Blog

Welcome Doubting Students

The North American church is losing younger members. College is a critical time for forming or rejecting faith, but religious disenchantment grows already during middle and high school. As college educators, we inherit the results. Some of our students are reluctant to discuss faith-related topics. Others quietly protest to themselves about Christian education. I have…
January 10, 2023
Blog

Why Would I Be a Mentor?

The utility of providing mentors to early career professionals is widely recognized. Many businesses encourage them with established formal mentoring programs. Many universities do the same, assigning incoming faculty and staff to more experienced counterparts to assist in their onboarding. The exact relationship between the “mentor” and “mentee,” however, comes in a wide variety of…
January 9, 2023
Blog

A Typology of Christian Discipleship Methods, Part 2

What are the disciple-making options for churches, schools, and others committed to facilitating the spiritual growth process? Part 1 of this series offered five methods from throughout church history. Here in Part 2, I share four more historical methods, followed by a suggestion for integrating these time-honored approaches into a comprehensive discipleship model that is…
January 6, 2023
Blog

A Typology of Christian Discipleship Methods, Part 1

Followers of Jesus are to be leaders in disciple-making. At home, at work, in school, in church, anywhere really, it is nothing less than what the scriptures invite us to do with our lives: Be disciples and make disciples. In fact, the word μαθητής (mathetes) appears more than 250 times in the New Testament, meaning…
January 5, 2023