Prayer breakfast pledge to ‘totally destroy’ Johnson Amendment comes up shy; conscience exemptions from LGBT anti-discrimination rules missing. In his biggest religious liberty push since taking office, President Donald Trump officially laid out in an executive order some of the protections he has promised faithful supporters for months. The move came on the same day …
Makoto Shinkai’s body-swap anime shows how habit and happenstance refine desire. In the rare moments during Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name when my mind wandered a bit, it kept coming back to the old internet meme “Still a better love story than Twilight.” Though the phrase was usually employed sarcastically on the ol’ interwebz, it was …
No teasing, no favorites, and hours and hours of time with one other. Sibling friendship is a countercultural notion. TV shows, movies, and books rarely portray siblings as allies. Sibling rivalry has been elevated from an occasional challenge to the cultural norm. Under this norm, parents function as referees and judges—breaking up fights, assigning blame, …
What new research reveals about self-control and willpower. As a Christian, I have often wondered about my failures of self-control. Why is it that I can know what I want to do, carefully plan to do it, and then do something completely different—something unhelpful and often directly opposed to my beliefs? As Paul wrote, “I …
The challenges for the church in a world of rapidly changing technology. Move over Fitbits and Apple Watches. Technology is coming with radical implications for our physical bodies this century. “The next frontier, the next real step-change in human history, is biological,” said author Andy Crouch in an interview with CT last week. “The next …
What Bruce Feiler’s reading of ‘the first love story’ leaves out. I’ve often wished for a book to hand to wives and husbands preparing to walk out on their families. I could have used half a dozen copies this year. I picked up Bruce Feiler’s The First Love Story: Adam, Eve and Us with hope. …
Lessons learned from illumiNations initiative could help other causes. This fall, ten Bible translation agencies—from Wycliffe Bible Translators to Pioneer Bible Translators to the United Bible Societies—will invite givers to visit a single website to see how Bible translation is progressing around the world and to join in this effort by making their contributions. Rather …
As it enters its third season, the acclaimed drama continues to take a long, hard look at our responses to loss. This article contains spoilers for the first two seasons of HBO’s The Leftovers. A few years ago, a close friend of mine—a youth minister on his way home from a mission trip—died in a …
The influential rapper’s latest record is all about our fear of being condemned. Last week, rapper Kendrick Lamar released his highly anticipated third major label album, DAMN. As with all his past releases, critics and fans have been buzzing about Kendrick’s lyrical deftness, musical prowess, and pointed social commentary. Increasingly, however, these conversations have also …
Faculty push back against stricter standards keeping curse words, R-rated movies, and sexual content out of their curricula. This spring, Cedarville University enacted new curriculum guidelines inspired by Philippians 4:8 and aimed at purifying coursework of erotic and graphic content. Cedarville, a buttoned-up Baptist school with a 130-year Christian history, is not the kind of …