You’ve probably noticed the recent popularity of books detailing people’s trips to both heaven and hell, ostensibly intended to warn the future inhabitants of hell and comfort the future inhabitants of heaven. The most recent addition to this genre is Heaven Is For Real—not to be confused with Choo Thomas’ Heaven Is So Real! or Heaven Is Fo’ Real Dawg, a soon-to-be-released album by a Christian hip-hop artist. (Just kidding.) (more…)

Yesterday I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some lunch fixin’s and happened to glance at the magazine rack as I waited in line to pay for my goods. Now the sin I have been most warned about as it relates to supermarket tabloids is that of lust. The plunging cleavage of female celebrities and salacious headlines detailing their exploits are said to be veritable ICBMs in the tempter’s arsenal. (more…)

Mockery was a common response to Jesus’ and the apostles’ ministry and continued into the early church era as the radical claims of a Christian minority confronted the pagan world. In many parts of the world today, a Christian minority is mocked and persecuted for its faith in the face of opposition. In America, where Christianity is considered the “majority religion,” mockery takes a different flavor.

Rarely are American Christians mocked for their claims of the divinity of Christ (e.g. 4th century bishop Athanasius) or salvation through faith alone (e.g. Martin Luther). No one pokes fun at us for our commitment to nonviolence (e.g. MLK Jr.) or refusal to curry favor with a political movement (e.g. the prophet Daniel). When was the last time American evangelicals were criticized for not bowing to the idols of this age—consumerism, celebrity worship and greed (e.g. the Amish)? In my view, these are worth being mocked for.

But today, we are mocked for things like this: