Commentaries

The Englishman Samuel Johnson said people more often need to be reminded than informed. The Thanksgiving holiday comes to mind. The hagiography masks the harsh conditions that led to the Puritans giving thanks.

The terrorist attacks in Paris have a prologue. A century ago, the religious order unraveled within a very short space of time. The Paris attacks are one outcome.

Thomas Jefferson said the cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate. These days, an uneducated electorate is crumbling the underpinnings of the American experiment. Evangelicals are contributing to this.

Reid Hoffman, the founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, believes the future of business requires relentless networking. He’s moving at the speed of business, which is accelerating. Is the faith community keeping up?

Why does time seem to point in one direction? That’s a question the writers at the Economist recently asked. The answer requires looking in another direction.

In the best-selling book series Left Behind, Christians are raptured away from the earth while unbelievers are left behind. That might not be the whole story, however.

Many ministries bear the name of Wilberforce or Clapham (mine included). But are we cut from the same bolt of cloth as the original? A new biography of Hannah More, a member of the Clapham Sect, helps answer that question.

If Christians were like hockey great Wayne Gretzky, they’d skate to where the puck will be, to where cultures will be in 15 years. There’s a way to do it.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky attributed much of his success to skating to where the puck will be—not where it’s been. In 15 years, the predominant cultures in the US will likely look different than today’s. Question: Who’s skating to where these cultures will be?

By the age of forty, you get the face you deserve. It’s a billboard, advertising what’s going on inside your mind. That’s good to know, except that those who would benefit most from seeing their billboard are often least aware of what it’s advertising.