One of the most popular blog posts I’ve written was a theological exploration of evil through the lens of the film, The Dark Knight. To continue the theme of superhero movies and theology, let’s talk about Superman.

After traveling a few weeks ago, I retuned home late one evening after the kids were in bed. After debriefing with my wife, I decided to vegetate by watching Superman Returns…the effort by director Bryan Singer to “reboot” the Superman movie franchise for Warner Brothers. Most critics, including myself, were very disappointed by the film. Superman Returns gives homage to Richard Donner’s Superman films (starring Christopher Reeve) by lifting characters, plot devices, dialogue, and even laugh lines from the original movies. But it had none of the Donner films’ magic.

The failure, I…

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season prior to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Vice President Joe Biden sparked curiosity when he appeared in public and on television with a smudge of ash on his forehead. One news anchor in the UK had no idea what it was. “What’s happened to his head?” asked Kay Burley on Sky News. “It looks like he’s walked into a door!” The co-host speculated that he had fallen on the ice while attending the Winter Olympics. (As if we needed more evidence that Britain is an utterly post-Christian secular culture.)

Biden is a practicing Catholic, and the ash was part of the Ash Wednesday mass he had attended earlier in the day. While usually associated with Roman Catholic expressions of…

 A few months ago I flew down to Dallas to interview Matt Chandler for Leadership Journal. Chandler has been getting a lot of attention in recent years–both for the rapid growth of his church as well as his outspoken adherence to Reformed theology. I must admit, I had some hesitations about interviewing another very popular, very young, very “successful” pastor. Without giving away my biases…I’ve not had a great experience with people who fit that description.

I was pleasantly surprised by Chandler. Not only did he offer thoughtful, reflective, and self-aware responses to our questions (rare qualities among large church pastors who tend to be “doers” more than “thinkers”),  he was also humble. But Chandler isn’t known as a touchy-feely. He likes speaking boldly and even abrasively about the…

Next month I will be participating on a panel with a Jewish rabbi, a secular humanist, a Muslim, and a Buddhist. The event is part of the Interfaith Youth Core’s “Leadership for a Religiously Diverse World” conference. For most of my life I have been very comfortable in interfaith settings. In college I even majored in comparative religion and greatly appreciated my interactions with people holding other worldviews and theologies. In general I am very supportive of Christians learning about other faiths with the goal of fostering respect and understanding.But last week a judge in Quebec has pushed the value of interfaith education to a new degree, and I’m curious to hear what you think.

Here’s the scoop. Last year schools in Quebec introduced a new curriculum covering “a…

Do you believe your work matters to God? That question has been on my mind as I prepare a sermon for September 20th. It seems like people in the church are often celebrated for what they do within the church or through the church or for the church, but we offer little attention or affirmation for the labor done outside the institutional structures of the church. The message we subtly communicate is that the 2 or 4 percent of a person’s time spent engaged in activities related to the church are what matter to God–they “count”–but the 95+ percent of the time they spend at work, with family, preparing meals, changing diapers, or mowing the lawn don’t really matter to God unless they incorporate church/missionary actions into those…

The following article was published in the Spring 2009 issue of Leadership Journal.  I wrote the piece with Brandon O’Brien. What isn’t mentioned in the article is that Eboo Patel and I grew up together in Glen Ellyn, IL. We attended the same elementary, junior high, and high school. We lost touch after graduation and reconnected for this article. The full piece can be read on Leadership’s website.

Eboo Patel is not the most likely seminary professor. His credentials are not the issue. Patel earned his doctorate from Oxford University, and he is a respected commentator on religion for The Washington Post and National Public Radio. He has spoken in venues across the world, including conferences for evangelical church leaders.

What makes Eboo Patel an unlikely seminary professor is that he is…

Last year during the presidential campaign, an interesting trend was observed. The Christian segment of the population once believed to be a monolithic voting block turned out to have more diversity of thought and opinion than previously believed. The hold of the Religious Right, Christian Coalition, and other GOP-leaning groups over the evangelical brand started to loosen.What emerged was a new, generally younger, more urban, and less politically idealistic group of Christian voters. Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power, refers to them as “Cosmopolitan Evangelicals.” According to Lindsay they have the following characteristics:● They reject signifiers of “populist” Christianity such as the Left Behind books and Thomas Kinkaide paintings.● They are less involved in local churches, but highly involved with parachurch organizations.● They may not…

Christians have always been pro-life. During the Roman Empire when infanticide was rampant, it was Christians who retrieved abandoned babies from outside the city walls to raise them as their own. But since Roe verses Wade, the way “pro-life” has been defined by many Christians has been very narrow. It simply meant anti-abortion. But that now seems to be changing. Growing numbers of Christians are embracing a wider ethic of life.Jim Wallis and Sojourners have called for a Christian agenda that is pro-life “from the womb to the tomb.” That means valuing children after they are born, and not just before. It means valuing social justice, equality, education, health care, and human rights. It means fighting poverty and advocating for those without a voice.For a while this agenda…