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Contributing to the Conversation: “Calling Evil Good: The Lie of ‘Christian’ Rock and Roll” by Spencer Smith
I grew up during the era in which contemporary Christian music’s popularity skyrocketed, eclipsing hymns and choral music in church worship services and on the radio. I remember when Switchfoot released their first big single, “New Way to Be Human,” and I loved (and still love) the song “Love Song for a Savior” by Jars of Clay. I sang “Breakfast in Hell” and “Shine” at summer camp, both Newsboys hits, and I can still sing all the words to “Let It Reign” by Michael W. Smith. I also remember when our youth group worship leader chose “Come Thou Fount” as our closing song one evening at youth group. I marveled…
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Let All the Nations Praise the Lord {New Music Monday}
Our spring program at school is coming up in a little less than a month. The students have been learning and practicing their songs since late in January. They did such an excellent job for the Christmas program that we’ve been working on some fun extra things as well. The theme of the program is “Let All the Nations Praise the Lord.” Here’s a summary of what my students will be performing for the spring program this year. Dona Nobis Pachem We’re beginning the program with “Dona Nobis Pachem,” a lovely canon, or round, meaning “grant us peace.” This song fits the theme of the program because it’s written in…
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Strawberry Cake and Cultivating a Biblical Worldview
Imagine you are making your friend a birthday cake. Your friend happens to love strawberries, so you decide that you are going to make her the most strawberry strawberry cake you can imagine. You go to the grocery store and buy strawberries to decorate the top of the cake, strawberry jelly to put between the cake layers, and strawberry extract to flavor the frosting and the cake. You even buy strawberry ice cream so you can offer your friend strawberry cake a la mode. Strawberry, strawberry, and more strawberry. Now, imagine that instead of making cake layers that taste like strawberry, you make chocolate cake layers instead. Chocolate is your…
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Husbands & Fathers, Joy-filled Limitations, and Small Beginnings: Quotes from My Current Reading Material {February Edition}
“What you are searching for…is a woman who is submissive to God Himself, to His holy Scriptures, and then to the way that God made the world, and then last, as a consequence of all the preceding, to you.” –Doug Wilson, “The Value of Gender Stereotypes“ (I also sent Doug Wilson a letter in response to a different article in the same series. Here’s his response to my letter.) “I don’t want to rehash years-long arguments, but it’s worth noting that stoicism, competitiveness, and even aggression can be virtues. They are not inherent vices. Each can be toxic in the wrong context. Each can be dispensible in the right time…
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My Thoughts on Egalitarianism in Education
As part of our teacher meetings at school this year, we’re reading through select chapters of “Repairing the Ruins,” edited by Doug Wilson. To prepare for our meeting last week, we read Chapter 6 of the book, titled ‘Egalitarianism: The Great Enemy.’ We didn’t end up with a lot of time for discussion, so I didn’t share any of my thoughts on the chapter during the meeting, but I did spend a lot of time after the meeting digesting some of the ideas from the chapter. This essay is what I would have shared during the meeting if we had had more time for discussion. *** I grew up during…