In Genesis 28 we met Jacob running scared from his twin brother Esau, who hated him not only for swindling him out of his birthright but for stealing his blessing.  But Jacob was full of hope on his journey to find a wife.  Then Jacob had a dream the showed him that there was more to his life…

With football season upon us, there is a whole new slate of TV ads that are directed at men.  There have been several dealing with the issue of men and their conversational style.  The one I recall (I forgot sponsor) featured  a young man probably in his 30’s picking up his dad to go somewhere  in the car.  The…

Back in May, John Koessler had an article in Christianity today, entitled “The Gift of Disillusionment.”  He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  “Certainly, serious Christians who are put in a community for the first time will often bring with them a very definite image of what Christian communal life should be, and they will be anxious to realize it….But…

The “buffered self” is the name give  by philosopher Charles Taylor to describe an individual  in our culture who is isolated from any  transcendent reality, that is, God ‘s presence.   Taylor observes that, prior to 1500, almost everyone believed in God, understanding life to be meaningless without God.  It was an “enchanted” world in which vulnerable souls were open to God.  Taylor refers to those…