Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio), a catholic college, explained recently on its website that it had posted a series of ads to promote its MA Theology and MA Catechetics and Evangelization programs, including one image featuring the San Damiano Cross with a crucified Jesus.  The administrator of the page received a notification from Facebook explaining  the image…

My wife and I recently went to see the movie, “I can only imagine.”  The film is based on the true story of how the lead singer for MercyMe, Bart Millard was lead to write the song after his father’s death from cancer.  The song has become the most played Christian radio single ever.  Since its release…

Leanne Payne in her  book “The Crisis of Masculinity,” quotes Thomas Wolfe:  “[T]he deepest search in life, it seemed to me, the thing that in one way or another was central to all living was man’s search to find a father, not merely the father of his flesh, not merely the lost father of his…

I preached recently for my pastor, using the story of the Prodigal Son ( Luke 15:11-31) as my text.  There are three main characters: the younger son, the elder son and the father.  We usually remember the younger son going away, coming to his senses and the returning to his father.  What about the elder son and the father?  I…

Have you heard of Jordan Peterson?  Until a few months ago I was clueless regarding Canadian psychologist at the University of Toronto.  But since 2016, millions have watched his collection of You Tube lectures. 80% are young men between 20-34. And when he speaks in public, the great majority of his audiences are made up of men.  Peterson himself was surprised at first. He soon realized he was speaking to deep concerns…

It can be disconcerting to live in spiritual darkness with the ‘lights out.” We want to know, understand and be aware of God’s presence.  For many years I never understood the reality of “the dark night of the soul.”   We read in Psalm 139:11-12, “I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to…

I came to faith in Jesus, as a young man of 18, in 1960, at a Lutheran Bible School In Los Angles.  The Scripture used to help me simply surrender my life to Jesus was Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has…

Time magazine has named “the Silence Breakers” its persons of the year for 2017, referring to the women who have come forward with harassment charges.  The magazine’s editor in chief, Edward Felsenthal believes the #MeToo movement represents the “fastest-moving social change we’ve seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by women…

Are you familiar with the term “liquid modernity.” It helps in discerning the drift of our nation.  The  concept is credited to the late Polish sociologist Zygmunt Baumen, who believed the term, “postmodern” did not accurately describe what was happening in today’s world.  “Liquid modernity” was more accurate in  describing the constant mobility and change in relationships, identities, and global economics in contemporary society.  Instead of referring to…

Recently Google has had a hard time identifying Jesus.  Google’s popular virtual assistant  identified Allah and Buddha but not Jesus.   “Google, who is Allah?” one Google user asked on a now-viral Facebook video.  “According to Wikipedia, in Islamic theology God is the all-powerful, all knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence,” the virtual assistant replied. But when…