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Antidote to Fast Living

From First Thoughts

“Describing the Sabbath is like describing ice cream to somebody who has never eaten it.  You can describe it all you want, but the proof is in the big spoonful of Cherry Garcia.” Gayle Trotter:  Today I am speaking with Dr. Matthew Sleeth, author of the book 24/6: a . . . . Continue Reading »

The Great Tension We Face

From First Thoughts

“I met some kids in Thailand who worked on the street in a red-light district, and they sold flowers.  They were going in and out of these brothels.  That was the first place I felt like I came alive in the law and what I wanted to do.” Gayle Trotter: This is Gayle . . . . Continue Reading »

Faith Without a Hitch

From First Thoughts

“There she is, speaking through broken English, she’s poorly educated, she’s no match for Hitchens in debate, and yet her whole life trumped every single argument he could make — all the clever arguments that he could make against God and God’s existence.”Gayle . . . . Continue Reading »

Love, American Style

From First Thoughts

“Obviously, the way people ‘sell themselves’ has a lot to do with creating certain illusions, creating positive impressions and that is what interested me in reading the personals in the New York Review of Books, which sounded completely implausible and unbelievable.  My . . . . Continue Reading »

Redemption of a White House Insider

From First Thoughts

“I said to the president, ‘You should have taken me by the lapels and tossed me onto Pennsylvania Avenue for what I have done.’ He said to me, ‘I forgive you.’”Gayle recently spoke with Timothy S. Goeglein, author of The Man in the Middle: An Inside Account of . . . . Continue Reading »

Is “Christian” the New “Gay”?

From First Thoughts

Gayle recently spoke with D. Michael Lindsay, sociologist, newly appointed president of Gordon College, and author of multiple books, including Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite.  Lindsay spearheaded a study of former White House Fellows (an elite . . . . Continue Reading »

Can Buddhists Teach Christians?

From First Thoughts

“As long as people shape their identity from this sense of being a victim in the past, it’s difficult to move forward, and we inflict suffering upon ourselves and possibly upon others.  I think Buddhists can give Christians a reminder of values in our own tradition and give a . . . . Continue Reading »

“Buy More” Children?

From First Thoughts

“There is this free lunch of just stop doing things that you and your kid don’t enjoy, and it’s not going to change the future anyway, so relax.  I would say to the Tiger Mom, that is a very strong piece of evidence against you that someone can raise a child in a way that you . . . . Continue Reading »