Thoughts on Life, Ministry, and Writing
Žižek, Peterson, and the Christian Atheist
What Žižek gets wrong about G. K. Chesterton
This year’s debate between Jordan Peterson and Slavoj Žižek was marketed as one of the greatest intellectual debates of the century. At one point, tickets were being scalped for over $1,500 a seat. To many’s disappointment, but probably for the best, the event went off without the anticipated drama. Peterson and Žižek managed to find...
Thoughts on the New Aladdin
Self-Expression and Our Search for a Happily Ever After (Spoiler Alert)
I recently found a computer emulator for playing vintage Super Nintendo games. And who knew you could buy USB Nintendo controllers on Amazon for eight bucks. Two days of waiting for our Prime package to arrive, and I sat down to introduce my son to the video games of my childhood. The first game I...
Watching Game of Thrones
& Our Missing Theologies for Understanding It
When season eight of Game of Thrones (GOT) premiered this year, HBO estimated that 17.4 million viewers were watching. Considering GOT is one of the most pirated shows in history, that number is probably much higher. HBO has spent more than 90 million dollars marketing the final season, and experts are estimating that the finale...
Share This Article and People Will Think You’re Smart.
There's a 59% chance you'll share this article without reading it.
Round of applause for yourself. If you are reading this, you are a part of the minority these days. A 2016 study conducted by Columbia University found that 59% of the links shared on social media weren’t ever clicked by the person who shared them. That means almost 60% of the articles your friends recommended...
Moana: A New Kind of Cultural Hero
Our Salvific Obsession With Finding An Identity
This winter, Netflix officially removed Moana from its catalog of streaming movies, a devastating blow to my house with two pre-schoolers. It had easily been the most played show on our account for the better part of 2018. My kids love Moana, and I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed it too. Thankfully my kids are...
Your Calling Is More Than Your Paycheck
Don’t Rule Out Bi-Vocational Ministry
This week, Benjamin Vrbicek released his new book, Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church. I was honored to not only provide the book an endorsement but also to have contributed an article on bi-vocational ministry. Benjamin has kindly given me permission to share my portion. I hope...
5 Writing Podcasts to Listen to Over the Holidays
If you enjoy a podcast, the best gift you can give this Christmas is a review.
Recently, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing several other podcast hosts on the Pastor Writer podcast. These days, there are some great podcasts for Christian writers. I thought I’d pass along a list of a few shows I’ve been enjoying. PS: If you enjoy a podcast, the best gift you can give this Christmas is a review....
Why Every Millennial Man Should Reread The Samson Story
I like to imagine him in Ray-Bans, a man bun, and a CrossFit t-shirt, hiking through...
“The modern hero is the outsider. His experience is rootless. He can go anywhere. He belongs nowhere. Being alien to nothing, he ends up being alienated from any type of community based on common tastes and interests. The borders of his country are the sides of his skull.” ― Flannery O’Connor, The Catholic Novelist in...
Operation Finale: A Gripping Depiction of Mundane Evil
The Image of Adolph Eichmann
A few weeks ago, I saw the movie, Operation Finale. It tells the story of a secret Israeli operation to infiltrate Argentina and capture Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi SS officer, credited for his influential role in planning and directing the Final Solution, the German execution of more than six million Jews. After the war,...
4 Questions I Wish I Could Ask Jordan Peterson About Faith and Christianity
Plus, 18 relevant articles and videos
Central to the plot of Ayn Rand’s classic 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, is the repeatedly posed question, “Who is John Galt?” The novel is about an increasingly tyrannical government undermined by a mysterious individual who workes to sabotage the bureaucracy by helping entrepreneurs and business owners vanish from the workforce; Galt covertly subverts the system...