A La Carte: Lessons from Trump’s and Harris’s social media campaigns / What is my spiritual gift? / The messages we receive / 10 mistakes I’ve made in preaching / Big Kindle and book sales / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (October 24)A La Carte (September 24)A La Carte (3/18)
Read More
Yesterday Abby and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world: Finnegan Safir Nicholas Elfarrah. Because they live just minutes away, Aileen and I were able to be there shortly after his birth to rejoice with them and to meet our first grandchild. We are thrilled beyond measure. And he is cute beyond belief. They chose the name Finnegan mostly because they just plain liked it. As for Safir, Nathan’s family is Middle Eastern and culturally the child’s grandfather gets naming rights. Nate’s dad deferred the first name and took the second, going with Safir. Nicholas is, of course, Abby’s tribute to her brother. Little Finn came in at just over 7 pounds and is healthy and well. While I know grandparents don’t always get to pick what they are going to be called (that usually seems to fall to the oldest grandchild) I hope to be “opa.” I am not Dutch but grew up in Dutch churches and surrounded by a Dutch community and “opa” is a form of tribute to the wonderful grandfathers I saw in those years. I always wanted an opa and now hope to be a good one. As I write these words it strikes me that I began this website shortly after Abby was born and a good part of my motive was to share photos and updates about her and her brother for the benefit of my family. I remember sharing news of Michaela’s birth here the day she was born. Now all these years later, even though…See AlsoWeekend A La Carte (May 25)A Summertime Family Update (And Guess Who’s Going To Be a Grandfather!)O Little Child of Salem
Read More
A La Carte: Pray till you pray / Do children need to consent to puberty? / Pleading for Sodom / A thought experiment / 10 mistakes when reading the Bible / Kindle deals / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (November 5)A La Carte (August 22)A La Carte (August 1)
Read More
A La Carte: Good night, my son / The longing for justice following sexual assault / Daughter of encouragement / Mistakes I made as a theological student / The dangers of disordered love / Kindle deals / and more.See AlsoA La Carte (September 12)A La Carte (August 29)A La Carte (July 1)
Read More
This week the blog is sponsored by Zondervan Reflective. Join the discussion about AI with the newly updated and expanded edition of 2084 and the AI Revolution by John C. Lennox–now available for purchase. Get your copy today! We humans are insatiably curious. We have been asking big questions since the dawn of history – about knowledge, origin, and destiny. Their importance is obvious. Our answer to the first shapes our concepts of who we are, and our answer to the second gives us goals to live for. Taken together, our responses to these questions frame our world view, the (meta) narrative or ideology that directs our lives and shapes their meaning, the framework of which we are often barely aware. These are not easy questions, as we see from the many and contradictory answers on offer. Yet, by and large, we humans have not let that hinder us. Over the centuries, some answers have been proposed by science, some by philosophy, some based on religion, others on politics, and many on a mixture of all of these and more. Many current developments were foreshadowed in famous dystopian novels such as the 1931 novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell’s novel 1984, published in 1949. Of course, neither Huxley nor Orwell knew anything about AI, but nevertheless they imagined a future shaped by the technology around them and by their ability to imagine future developments in that area, many of which imaginings turned out to be prescient. AI has been defined as…See AlsoHow to use Catechism in Family WorshipThe Questions Women Asked and Their Impact Upon the ChurchReaching Cultural Christianity With The Gospel
Read More