By David Faust It’s all right with me when the restaurant’s menu says “no substitutions.” Usually the chef’s recipe is fine the way it is. Anyway, substitutes seldom equal what they replace. Stand-ins command little respect. We call them bench-warmers, understudies, back-ups, second-fiddles. Schoolchildren try to get away with more mischief and do less […]
Taking evil seriously
By David Faust Evil sounds harsh to contemporary ears, but sometimes it’s the only word that fits. Child abuse is more than a mistake; it’s evil. Terrorism cannot be justified as a political strategy; it’s evil. Pornography isn’t a joke or an innocuous expression of free speech; it degrades women, shames and enslaves men, and […]
Bring a big spoon
By David Faust Julius Caesar once said that he was not afraid of “well-fed men,” but he feared “the pale and the hungry-looking.” I’m guessing he would have felt right at home at a church fellowship dinner. I have been a well-fed man at churches in most of the 50 states and more than […]
The sound heard far away
Another Look by David Faust The roar of the crowd could be heard for miles. Filled with intense emotion, the people gathered on the very ground where Solomon’s temple stood decades before. After long years in exile, the Jews had returned to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for a new temple to be constructed on […]
The subtle deception of universalism
By David Faust What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a universalist? A knock on the door for no apparent reason. Actually, universalism is no joke. It’s a widely accepted philosophy imbedded in the psyche of our generation. The idea that one must believe in Jesus Christ to be saved […]
