My bride (Judy) and I have for the last 10 years attempted  to live a kind of semi-monastic life.  I call ourselves a “monk and a nun.”  The threefold rhythm of  monastic life in the Benedictine tradition gives us a focus – prayer, study and work.  Manuel work was included in the rule of Benedict not merely to…

Back in 2013, a group of sociologists came up with the phrase, “Overdoing Gender,” in describing men who think their masculinity is in doubt, then  respond by emphasizing traditional masculine traits.  In the study, threatened masculinity was linked to “support for, and desire to advance in dominance hierarchies” and “belief in male superiority.”  Some have seen Donald…

Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Seminary, recent expressed  a favorable  inclination toward Tim LaHaye’s overall perspective regarding the end times.  While not accepting, “any straightforward version of his end-times scenario,” Mouw made this revealing statement, “But it does increasingly feel to me like we are entering into a cultural ‘tribulation’ of sorts.”  In the…

This is a personal blog, written after my wife and I  experienced a devastating wind storm that took down dozens of trees on our lake property.  It happened about 2 in the morning.  With the light of dawn we viewed the devastation all around us.  Thankfully our home was spared, but not the silver cabin down by the lake.  We have spent…

Recently I came across in interview with James Houston, former teacher of Regent College.  His books and tapes have been very instrumental in my spiritual journey.  He was asked to list the top three needs of the church today.  Since I admire him so much, I want to comment on the three needs he mentioned. The first…