Sam Hardman What exactly is Christmas joy? Maybe you haven’t used that particular phrase yourself, but you have probably heard others use it. What does it mean? The very existence of such a phrase suggests the idea that Christmas joy is somehow special, somehow distinct from other kinds of joy. Is it? And if it …
The men and women of the Bible often observed set times of prayer during the day and night. We learn from the Old Testament (e.g. Judges 7:19 and Exodus 14:24) that the night was divided into three “watches”: the first watch, the middle watch, and the morning watch. These were originally used by watchmen to …
Steve Harvey is one of the most recognizable names and faces in American television, especially for his hosting of Family Feud. Today he is famous, rich, and loved by millions. But when Steve Harvey was 26 years old, he “was struggling” and “didn’t have nothing.” A couple in Cleveland, OH, who owned a furniture store, …
After many years of it sitting on one of my bookshelves, I finally decided to read Stephen Hawking’s Brief History of Time. My only reason for this was my realization that I read almost exclusively works of fiction, and that it was my duty to branch out a little. Now, the book itself was somewhat …
A couple of weeks ago, when my parents were in town, we visited a market with different stalls selling different foods from different countries. One was selling Tibetan dumplings. Naturally, our curiosity was piqued, and as my mom held the table, my dad and I went to order. I asked the man if he was …
One tragic and paradoxical consequence of the Fall is this: we have become bent inward, seeing the whole world only with reference to our own wills and desires and self-interest, but at the same time we have lost the ability to see ourselves – and our wants and desires and self-interest – with true objectivity. …
It’s an interesting question, don’t you think? Is suffering the Christian’s friend or is it an enemy? We all have to deal with this question in some way, whether we seek to answer it consciously and explicitly or simply let it linger just below the surface of conscious thought, where it still has consequences for …
I am looking out my kitchen window this morning at a lovely, delicate snowfall that is covering the world – at least my little corner of it – with a dusting of pure white. You know the sort of snowfall I mean. Not the sort where the snow is piling up at an inch or …
As I was reading a post by a contemporary theologian*, I came across a sentence that expressed something I believe with every fiber of my being: “One can fully appreciate beauty in its every form without feeling the need to possess it for oneself alone.” Modern man has a difficult time understanding how this is …
The Babylon Bee recently did a wide-ranging interview with Elon Musk that stretched over the better part of two hours. For any who don’t know, The Babylon Bee is a right-of-center satirical Christian website, founded in 2016, whose audience has exploded over the last three years. Most of what they do is satirical “reporting” on …