At the Intersection of Theology, Nature, and the Arts
Some media outlets and some of my friends on Facebook have been in an uproar over comments made by Ben Carson at a Monday meeting with Housing and Urban Development employees. They have expressed outrage over Dr. Carson's use of the word "immigrant" to refer to slaves brought, in cargo holds, to the United States. "There were other immigrants who came here …
Continue reading "Ben Carson, the Media, and Word Pretzeling"
Richard Foster writes: "Perhaps the greatest malady in the Church today is converts to Christ who are not disciples of Christ--a clear contradiction in terms. This malady affects everything in church life and in large measure accounts for the low level of spiritual nutrients in our local congregations. To counter this sad state of affairs, …
Continue reading "Converts to Christ Who Are Not Disciples of Christ"
In 1974, more than 2,300 evangelical leaders from 150 countries gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland to consider the witness of the church. Convened by Billy Graham and led by John Stott, the revered Anglican evangelical priest and writer, the event produced the Lausanne Covenant. The signatories to that document affirmed the global character of the church …
Topsail’s Turtles, Episode 2 of Wild Life! Wild Places!, on Pet Life Radio, is now available for listening. In this program, I take you to North Carolina where I am helping monitor sea turtle activity on Topsail, one of the state’s barrier islands. Topsail is a northern rookery for the threatened species that is the …
Celebrating America's National Parks, a book on which I collaborated with Florida-based photographer, Clyde Butcher (his images, my words) was released in 2016. This volume features parks ranging from Maine’s Acadia to Alaska’s Denali to Florida’s Everglades. Shared alongside Clyde’s images, that he captured over a span of 50 years, are the fascinating details I discovered on the …
JAMES 1:1-12 The author of James, whom we believe to be the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem council (that we read about in Acts 15), wanted the church to grow up into the beautiful picture and pattern that God had set before it. He wanted the church to live out with enthusiasm …
I apologize for neglecting this blog in recent days. I’ve been holed up writing and editing but will soon resume posting on this site. Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades, a book I edited, has just been released, and The National Parks, a book on which I collaborated with photographer Clyde Butcher (his photographs, my words), …
I believe there are moments in history when we're presented with wide-open windows into evil. At those times, a mass of people who have not seen the evil--because of ignorance, deception, or a deliberate turning away--may finally be pressed to look while the window is wide-open and the evil is illuminated. The Planned Parenthood videos …
The argument has been made that, if Planned Parenthood was defunded, poor young women wouldn't have anywhere to go for low-cost care. I am not unsympathetic. I've spent a good bit of my life leading a number of ministries and non-profits charged with helping society’s at-risk, homeless, and marginalized individuals and families. As a friend, as …
We thought he was limping because he’d injured his leg while running from one end of the RV to the other in delighted excitement over our coming home. Mac greeted us with this ritual of a mad dash every single time we entered the door. But … the limp wouldn’t be traced to his collision …
DFG Hailson 