New Video and News of the Week

It’s winter here, artic winds blowing, very wet, and a new semester is underway! Next week I’ve got two conferences, I’m preaching on Amos 3, and getting ready to hang with my PhD students. Hey, check out N.T. Wright’s interview with David Capes about Jesus and the Powers.

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New Video

In this video, I explain why Christians should support liberal democracy. In fact, liberal democracy works best in countries largely shaped by missional Protestantism!

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News of the Week

Who is J. D. Vance? Trump’s VP nominee! One might say he is an opportunist having evolved from NeverTrumper to MAGA Cheer-leader in Chief. But he does have an interesting story seen in his autobiography Hillbilly Elegy which I think explains much of the rise of the MAGA crowd in white, rural, impoverished parts of America. His voting record does include some interesting acts of bipartisan pursuit so his story is not a black and white tale. That said, his apathy if not outright hostility to Ukraine is deeply concerning to me.

Orthodox Deaconness. In Harare, Zimbabwe, Angelic Molen was ordained a deaconess on May 2, 2024, in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa.

New Movie: The Conclave. The pope is dead. The throne is vacant. Conclave is only in theaters this November, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. Good drama or anti-Catholic porn?

Integrated Faith is Secret to Youth Retention. Research has shown that children are more likely to retain their faith into adulthood if faith is talked about and practiced at home, in what is called a “coherency of faith” model.

Aussie PM names Jillian Segal as first Australian anti-Semitism envoy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has named Jewish lawyer and business leader Jillian Segal as the nation's first anti-Semitism envoy, in response to the rise of Jewish people being targeted amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.