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On the Description of Heaven

From First Thoughts

I just read Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  A few of my family members recommended it very strongly.  The main attraction is that Mr. Burpo’s son nearly died of acute, misdiagnosed appendicitis and survived to report that he had been to Heaven.  Young Colton Burpo . . . . Continue Reading »

Getting Francis Schaeffer Right

From First Thoughts

Lately with all the talk of “Dominionism” and the scary religious right and Frank Schaeffer chiming in, I feel the need to draw attention to a biography of Francis Schaeffer that I think really portrayed him fairly and without the usual political histrionics.  I wrote the following . . . . Continue Reading »

Belated Reflections on LOST

From First Thoughts

I’ve just seen the entire run of LOST over the course of about two months. It is time for a few reflections. To those who intend to watch the show, stop reading now. There will be SPOILERS.The show begins with a jet crashing on an island in the Pacific. The first question is, “Who survives a jet . . . . Continue Reading »

Lars Walker on Thor

From First Thoughts

Lars Walker is a wonderful writer of fiction related to Vikings (and Christianity).  He recently took up his pen, so to speak, to review the new Thor movie.  These lines caught my attention:To anyone schooled in Norse mythology, the Odin of the movie is almost unrecognizable, except . . . . Continue Reading »

Considering Atlas Shrugged on Film

From First Thoughts

This piece was originally written for the Breakpoint blog. Crossposted with their permission.Christians have a deep ambivalence about Ayn Rand that probably draws as deeply from the facts of her biography as from her famous novels. When the refugee from the old Soviet Union met the Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

Strange Usage

From First Thoughts

I pay a lot of attention to the ways people speak because words have always fascinated me. I continue to remember the day, nearly 20 years ago, when my father watched undergrads walking from downtown Athens onto the UGA campus and remarked, “There go the students entering into the portals of . . . . Continue Reading »