Keeping Our Distance* Bill Strom, Ph.D. Trinity Western University “Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 These last months, the …
Humbled by God and a GMC Truck, by Bill Strom
Humbled by God and a GMC Truck * Bill Strom, Ph.D. Professor of Media + Communication Trinity Western University “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). I own a Toyota truck and love it. I bought it used, yet it continues to run dependably after clocking over 200,000 kilometers. …
Soul Stirrings, “Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness” Ep. 20 – with Dr. Paul Patton
CCSN · “Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness” Ep. 20 – with Dr. Paul Patton In this podcast, Paul talks about the fifth “Fruit of the Spirit,” “kindness.” As a virtue with eternal significance, he reminds us that any act of unkindness or any unkind word is a momentary forgetting of the kindness of God.
“Words don’t have meaning, people have meaning…?” (or, “This Last, Dim, Weird Battle of the West” or, “The End of Civilization, Maybe.” (Part 3)
“Words don’t have meaning, people have meaning…?” (or, “This Last, Dim, Weird Battle of the West” or, “The End of Civilization, Maybe.” (Part 3) By Mark Williams, Ph.D Professor of Rhetoric, California State University, Sacramento (from the regular Column: “Meaningful-Faith: Words, the Word, and a Life of Substance”) We’ve recently been reflecting on Stultus, an alias for a real student …
Bridging the Racial Divide in Worship Music, A Special Guest Column
Bridging the Racial Divide in Worship Music – A Special Guest Column Column No. 1: From Numb Praise to Songs of Lament: Bridging the Racial Divide in Worship Music By John Hatch, Ph.D, and Laura Lee Groves, Ph.D. Column No. 2 (A Response): Christian Music as a Prophetic Voice: A Call to Repentance and Action By Kesha Morant Williams, Ph.D, and Omotayo …
May Your Hypocrisy Increase Tenfold
May Your Hypocrisy Increase Tenfold Mark Williams, Ph.D. Professor of Rhetoric, California State University, Sacramento (from the regular Column: “Meaningful-Faith: Words, the Word, and a Life of Substance”) Not long ago, I was accused of being a hypocrite. The charge was both accurate and delightful. The charge was accurate because I was failing to live consistently with something I said …
What it Means to Take Ourselves Seriously
What it Means to Take Ourselves Seriously Mark Williams, Ph.D. Professor of Rhetoric, California State University, Sacramento (from the regular Column: “Meaningful-Faith: Words, the Word, and a Life of Substance”) The problem with having political or social power is that it often leads a person to take himself seriously. And of all the pathetic creatures on this earth, none are …
What Matters
What Matters Mark Williams, Ph.D. Professor of Rhetoric, California State University, Sacramento (from the regular Column: “Meaningful-Faith: Words, the Word, and a Life of Substance”) Social media has carved the eight minutes and forty-six seconds leading to the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd into an inescapable national monument. Conversations and exchanges of words that do not fit that definition …
Arguing: Its Meaning and Glory
Arguing: Its Meaning and Glory Mark Williams, Ph.D. Professor of Rhetoric, California State University, Sacramento (from the regular Column: “Meaningful-Faith: Words, the Word, and a Life of Substance”) I realize it is obvious, but we increasingly find ourselves in difficult days (like fish dropped into molasses) where the most obvious things (if we stay here, we will die) need to …
A Confused and Convicted Vicar
A Confused and Convicted Vicar Tom Carmody, Ph.D., Professor of Communication Studies, Vanguard University Five years ago, my wife and I took our first trip to England. As a newly ordained Anglican transitional deacon I was especially excited to visit the historic “Mother Church” of my denominational tribe. We took the train down from London and arrived in the late …