Something about the celebrations, sentimentality, and resolution-making of Christmas and New Years often leads us to reflect on the general trajectory of our lives. Most of us are aware that those who have recently lost a loved one will have a particularly difficult December, but I think that many of us tend to deal with feelings of sadness and loss during this season, especially about that one life problem that doesn’t seem to go away. We ask questions like, “why can’t I fix this problem when everyone else around me seems to be able to fix the same problem in their lives?” “why do I even have this problem in the first place?” and “how am going to get through another year with this problem?”
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Baxter on Gluttony: Choosing Selflessness Over Selfishness this Christmas
This may be not only the most unglamorous topic to write about, but perhaps even a bit insensitive at this time of year, when eating and drinking a lot are part of everyone’s weekly plans. Perhaps seeing a Puritan name in the same sentence as the “g” word raises even more hairs on the back of your neck. But just as the stereotype of the Puritans as killjoys is incorrect, so is nervousness surrounding the topic of gluttony. God doesn’t give us instructions about how to live in order to do away with our celebrations, but to help us celebrate in the best way—with concern for others above concern for ourselves
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What To Do When You Find Out Your Historical Hero Did Something Sinful
When we talk about church history we often focus on the good parts, and when we talk about key historical figures in the faith we often paint them as hero-like. And rightfully so. As we hope to show you on this site, there are countless heroic stories of Christians overcoming great obstacles of physical persecution, public opposition, and personal demons. But because we celebrate the good and don’t often consider the bad, we can set ourselves up to be unpleasantly surprised when someone brings the skeletons out of the church history closet.
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Yesterday, Today, and Forever
What do you get when you put five PhD students together at a taco shop on the last day of a historical theology seminar and have them talk about their hopes and dreams? This website. The exhaustion and joy from finishing another class together mixed with the sweet taste of guacamole to create an atmosphere of openness and encouragement, so that when Geoff suggested we start a project together, we all nodded with enthusiasm and full mouths. This website comes from our shared desire to elucidate issues surrounding church history in such a way that is both practical for your Christian walk and academically accurate.
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