“Our society is experiencing change at unprecedented rates. Young people are navigating these changes alongside the challenges that adolescence and young adulthood present. Young people want and need safe spaces and relationships to talk about what they’re experiencing and find guidance on how to move forward” (Springtide). … More Helping Young People In Uncertain Times
For the past 10 years, my go-to media outlet for nuanced, sane, Biblically grounded, Jesus-shaped, and good-humored perspectives on Christianity, history, culture and politics, has been the Holy Post. Everyone podcast and media outlet has an angle. Everyone has a bias. Nobody is really all that “balanced” — whatever that means. … More My Media Outlet of Choice
David Brooks is one of my go-to sources for reasoned political commentary and analysis. Give 14 minutes to consider his speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. Brooks’ speech is challenging and thought provoking, calling for us to reassess what we think cultural renewal looks like and to reconnect to our spiritual roots. … More David Brooks: Rupture, Repair & Societal Change
If I have socially withdrawing tendencies, it’s because I’m trying to survive life married to an incurable socialite who’s constantly dragging me into public. When we’re not out on the town, she’s welcoming the town into our home. Just this morning I asked what are evening plans are, and she said, “Not much…except Peter is inviting his entire basketball team to sleep over.” We have very different definitions of “not much.” Scot McKnight riffs today on Derek Thompson’s essay, “The Anti-Social Century.” … More Eating Alone
Why was the creation of the universe described in 9 verses in Genesis, whereas the building of the tabernacle is detailed in hundreds of verses over many chapters Exodus? Moses was working with a fractious bunch divided into twelve tribes, and one of the best ways to unite a people is by joining them together in a common project. … More Shut Up & Build Up: Healing Our Divisions
BY RUSSELL MOORE We Lose Culture Wars by Prosecuting Them “Why are we on defense,” one frustrated culture warrior asked me, referring to some religious freedom issue, “when we should be on offense?” As I’ve writtenelsewhere, I find this metaphor telling. It assumes that what really matters is the church’s state rather than its mission. The more I’ve … More Fighting (the Culture War) Like the Devil
My singular call these days is to try to get people under my influence to turn down the volume on the worldly voices (social media, cable news, etc.), and to turn up the volume on wiser voices. David Brooks is one of the wise voices in public life. … More Wisdom in a World of Sound & Fury
Carl Ellis knows what it’s like to get flack from both left and right because he’s navigating a “third way” as a Jesus follower. Systemic racism is a problem, but critical race theory is also problematic. White privilege is a reality to be aware of, but should not lead to white guilt. Dive into wisdom in this nuanced conversation with Preston Sprinkle. … More Neither Liberal nor Conservative: Systemic Racism, White Privilege, and Christian Nationalism, Oh My!
I saw an ad today inviting leaders, content creators, and influencers to learn how to make their faith go viral. What if we instead focus on helping Jesus’ faith and ethics go viral? … More Viral Jesus For an Infected Church
The past year revealed many Christians being animated by the wrong “spirit” and buying into lies and misinformation rather than the truth. Here’s some wisdom from Jesus for the New Year. … More ‘Spirit’ and ‘Truth’ for a New Year
I find this new trend in Christmas photos deeply disturbing for anyone who follows the non-violent Messiah who came in fulfillment of Isaiah’s hope and vision of the Day when people “shall beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4), or in our day “guns into garden tools.” … More People (with Guns) Kill
John Mark Comer, in his book Live No Lies, leads the church and pastors like me into the necessary conversations about what’s really underneath all the other cultural conversations and debates. John Mark embodies three of the main values and goals of Kingdom Harbor as he attempts to give Christians 1) a robust Biblical theology, 2) pathways for soul formation, and 3) Jesus-shaped cultural commentary. … More Lies About Freedom, Sex, Truth & Culture
Those of you who read me, knowing that I don’t enter into political discourse very often, may not know Kirsten Powers. I have read her for years because she is what I like most in political commentary: clear-minded, fiercely so at times, yet reasonable and logical. … More Under the Gaze of Grace (Scot McKnight)
Many today are deconstructing their faith, the faith of their parents, the faith of their church, the faith of public evangelicalism. I have observed what I will call here three “phases” of this deconstruction. … More Beyond Deconstructing Faith
Bishop Barron explores four thinkers who are shaping the world that we are confronting: Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. Once we understand some of their most basic ideas, we will recognize their influence everywhere today. … More Ideas Have Consequences
I have found it necessary to spend the first couple classes laying some groundwork about healthy attitudes and approaches to learning, and naming and avoiding unhealthy approaches and attitudes that stunt growth. Toward this end, I have found one book helpful. … More 3 Great Untruths Stunting our Growth
A couple weekends ago, I grabbed my iPhone 8 (yep, a few models behind) and mini-tripod and drove north to Lake Superior with a singular goal of capturing some video for a little “Welcome Video” for the front page of my newly branded (still tweaking) Kingdom Harbor website. … More “Filming” On the North Shore
Two young fish are swimming along when they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?” … More This Is Water (David Foster Wallace)
George Packer’s recent article in The Atlantic called, “How America Fractured into 4 Parts,” argues that Americans no longer agree on the country’s purpose, values, history, or meaning. Is he right? And how do Packer’s 4 Americas map onto the church? … More Four Americas Walk Into A Bar
Like Jesus, every preacher should have a story of being pressed into a corner and seeing fire in the eyes of an offended congregant after a sermon, unless they are in the ear-tickling business. … More How A Preacher Gets Thrown Off a Cliff Then & Now
In this clip, Jeremy offers 3 postures Christians can have toward the culture, and 3 ways of engaging people we disagree with, urging us to resist the first two and embrace the third. … More WATCH: 3 Postures Toward Culture & Disagreement
Jesus invites us into his boat, and sends us onto the seas of culture to be wise and winsome, gathering others into his boat. In this message, Jeremy offers 3 different postures Christians can have toward the culture (Reflect, Reject, or Redeem), urging us to resist the first two and embrace the third. … More WATCH: Sailing the Cultural Seas with Jesus
If chasing worldly happiness is a “yuppie” preoccupation, then we live in a yuppie nation and breathe the oxygen of a yuppie culture. At the end of the day, however, the Bible isn’t a handbook for happiness; it’s a pathway to holiness. … More Bob Dylan on ‘Happiness’ vs. ‘Blessedness’
Darrell Bock, in his new book Cultural Intelligence, has put his hand on the table to offer some ideas about how Christians might better engage culture by becoming both more sensitive and by keeping on mission. … More Cultural Intelligence
On this Super Tuesday, remember to not let your civic duty eclipse your ultimate allegiance. Go vote at the poll, but save your worship for the pew. … More Decline of Church, Increase of Politics
Jeremy L. Berg 