Barack Obama made a public effort this week to reach a compromise with religious employers on the government’s new health care plan. At issue was a requirement that all employers offer birth control to women through their insurance plans, however some religious organizations take specific moral issue with birth control. The compromise, to me, seemed…

The “E Word” in Christianity is a funny thing. In one respect, Evangelicals are self-identified, and therefore, self-defined. On the other, popular culture (particularly media) lays its own meaning on what it means to be Evangelical. In the latter context, the word inevitably translates to “Conservative Christian.” But I think this definition isn’t fair. What’s…

Our son, Mattias, is eight years old. Everyone thinks their kid is special, and in a lot of ways, he’s just a regular kid. He loves fart jokes, enjoys riding his scooter and is obsessed with video games. But we’ve known he was different from a very early age. Mattias started reading almost as soon…

(From my memoir, PregMANcy: A Dad, a Little Dude and a Due Date, on faith, fatherhood and family, due out April 1, 2012) Mattias: “Dad, I forgive you.” Me: “But I didn’t do anything wrong.” Mattias: “That’s okay. I forgive you anyway.” -Mattias, 5 years, 1 month Perhaps the biggest responsibility of a parent is…

I wrote a piece recently about Mark Driscoll, his Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and their practice of disciplining members. A number of bloggers have responded with our concerns about how the situation was handled, and recently Mars Hill issued a brief response to criticism of their handling of the matter (thanks to Ian Ebright…

The news of the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulling their funding for Planned Parenthood facilities is no breaking news. Neither is it that Karen Handel, Vice President for Public Affairs, stepped down after the firestorm of publicity and subsequent reversal of position by her organization. Usually I like to respond to issues sooner than this,…

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