Gator Hater Week 2007

One point. That’s the margin by which the Florida Gators won in last year’s game against Tennessee. Does such a slim margin mean that we should hate the Gators any less? Absolutely not! There’s still plenty of hatred to go around. One of the questions that I’m most often asked regarding the Gators is this: … Read more

Whence evangelical art?

In a brilliant essay in this month’s Touchstone magazine, Donald T. Williams examines an obvious missing product of evangelical writers: good literature. Viewing this problem through the lens of one of my favorite writers, Flannery O’Connor, Williams observes: O’Connor complained that too many Catholic writers were too utilitarian in their approach, but at least their … Read more

Killing the Giant Killers

Vols 39, Golden Eagles 19 Following the typical playbook for a Tennessee pay-per-view game, the Vols started out shaky and rallied in the second half to win handily. Southern Mississippi is legendary for creating upsets, but five games with Tennessee have yet to perpetate the legend. I didn’t see this game, but I listened to … Read more

The Word, not words, changes the heart

Here’s a quote from Lesslie Newbigin that should give evangelical Christians both pause and comfort: The radical conversion of the heart, the U-turn of the mind which the New Testament calls metanoia, can never be the calculable result of correct methods of communication. It is something mysterious for which we can only say that our … Read more

Circus Maximus Larry Craigus

Ok, so let me get this straight: Sen. Larry Craig is arrested in June. He pleads guilty to disorderly conduct in August. Once made public, he claims he was not guilty. Then, under pressure, he says he will resign from the Senate. But then, once a misplaced voicemail is made public, he claims he is … Read more

Religion & Politics at American University

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in “Table Talk Luncheon” at American University’s Kay Spiritual Life Center. The topic was “Religion & Politics in the US: Young Evangelicals in National Politics.” My worthy counterpart on the panel was Tim Kumfer from Sojourners, with whom I even found a few points of agreement (you’ll have … Read more

Tis the season

Vols 31, Golden Bears 45 It’s football time in Tennessee. And even though I live in Virginia, that sentiment is expressed around this blog in the form of University of Tennessee football game recaps. Like ’em or not, they’re back. Tonight’s game saw the Vols lose the opener with California. The Golden Bears, complete with … Read more

Nancy Sharp, R.I.P.

My great-aunt Nancy Sharp died today at the age of 93. On the surface she might have seemed to be just an ordinary woman, but in her ordinariness she was a woman of extraordinary grace. My late grandfather’s oldest sister, she was born on July 31, 1914 in Knoxville, Tennessee — just as World War … Read more