Monthly Archives: January 2021

The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder

The American republic is in serious danger. That danger will not dissolve when Joe Biden is inaugurated as president. That danger will not dissolve if Donald Trump is sent to prison or has a heart attack and dies tomorrow. What follows here is an article published in The New York Times Magazine on January 9.Continue reading “The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder”

Fearing and laughing: Psalm 52 and the demise of Trump

The more usual, expected phrase is “fear and trembling.” But there comes a time for fear and laughing. Psalm 52 contemplates the fate of the powerful person who is evil and boastful, contrasting it with the faithfulness of God toward the righteous, meaning the people who live in covenant relationship with God.

A statement from Denver Seminary president Mark Young regarding recent events

Here I simply wish to quote and recommend a statement posted on January 8 by Denver Seminary president Mark Young. Against the background of many unwise statements issued by other putative evangelical leaders, his stands out. It neither endorses nor condemns particular politicians or parties by name, but it delivers a serious, substantive admonition—and exemplifiesContinue reading “A statement from Denver Seminary president Mark Young regarding recent events”

By the dawn’s early light

What a day! What a night! Early this morning, these words come to mind: O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?And the rocket’s red glare, theContinue reading “By the dawn’s early light”

When Jesus went on his way, where did he go? (Luke 4:31–37)

Jesus will never be our homey who assures us that we are OK until we first hear him as the stranger who tells us that we are not OK, until we accept his exotic words as authoritative, as so authoritative and powerful that they cast out the demons that indwell us (verses 33–37), until we have been unmade and remade by his word.