Posts from 2017
A Wonderful Movie that Misses the Point
Frank Capra’s classic film It’s a Wonderful Life is an American Christmas icon. For many, including me, December isn’t complete without watching it at least once. I was around ten years old the first time I saw it and I was captivated. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to live in Bedford Falls, eat ice cream at Mr. Gower’s drug store, go to the dance at the high…
Jan Hus: The Wild Goose
In the historic town square of Prague, the Czech Republic, there is a large bronze statue of Jan Hus, the Christian pastor, scholar, and reformer who was burned at the stake for heresy by the Roman Catholic Church in 1415. In the Czech Republic today, Hus is primarily remembered as the father of Czech nationalism and for his resistance to foreign domination, but he stood…
John Wycliffe: Morning Star of the Reformation
Aside from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the early years of the Christian movement described in the New Testament, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century is the most important event of Christian history, and it shapes our lives as Christians right down to this day. The…
What’s God Got to Do with It?
As I write, Hurricane Irma is battering Florida. Just a few days ago we watched Hurricane Harvey flood Houston. Barely noticed in American news, devastating floods have killed over a thousand people in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A few days ago, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake devastated southern Mexico, killing dozens. When human suffering comes suddenly and on such…