February 2020
Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America
Join us as historian Darren Dochuk narrates the recent past through the stories of American Christianity and the oil industry. From the earliest discovery of oil in America during the Civil War, citizens saw the resource as the nation's special blessing and its peculiar burden, the source of its prophetic mission in the world. To the present day, the oil industry's leaders and workers together have fundamentally transformed American religion, business, and politics—boosting America's ascent as a preeminent global power,…
Find out more »March 2020
Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age
We live in a distracted, secular age. These two trends define life in Western society today. We are increasingly addicted to habits—and devices—that distract and "buffer" us from substantive reflection and deep engagement with the world. And we live in what Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor calls "a secular age"—an age in which all beliefs are equally viable, and real transcendence is less and less plausible. Drawing on Taylor's work, Alan Noble describes how these realities shape our thinking and affect…
Find out more »Communicating the Gospel in a Secular and Distracted Age
Sharing the Gospel and educating students in a distracted and secular age. In this M-Lab (ministry lab), Alan Noble will discuss ways to: • present the whole Gospel to emerging adults at UW-Madison. • educate the next generation of college students, Gen Z. • thoughtfully prepare college students to share their faith with their peers. Speaker Bio: Dr. O. Alan Noble is an Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and author…
Find out more »Christ and Pop Culture
How do we engage with our culture in a way that is open, winsome, faithful and thoughtful? How do we show the beauty and goodness of the Gospel as it intersects with every sphere of culture and media? How might we publicly offer an alternative vision of a living faith that others might comprehend and receive? Christ and Pop Culture is an online curated magazine, which exists to acknowledge, appreciate, and think rightly about the common knowledge of our age.…
Find out more »Just Business
Business leaders face a multitude of pressures from a wide variety of stakeholders–employees, suppliers, customers, board members, shareholders, and competitors. Moreover, they must face their own shadows and insecurities. Doing the “right thing” is not always easy to discern. And when decisions seem clear cut, they are not always simple to carry out. For leaders who must make challenging, real-time decisions with imperfect information, having a moral framework to draw on is essential. Christianity provides such moral scaffolding, but is…
Find out more »Living in Bonus Time: Surviving Cancer, Finding New Purpose
Why am I still here? Where is God in all this? Can anything good come out of my suffering? How should I live differently now? In his new book, Living in Bonus Time, two-time cancer survivor, Alec Hill, grapples with profound questions related to survivor’s guilt, the role and nature of God, and what kind of life emerges after a close call with death. A man of faith and former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, Alec does not dodge the…
Find out more »April 2020
Chemistry and Creation: Augustine and Irenaeus at the Origin of Life
How do the basic rules of chemistry shed light on the order we see in creation? In Dr. Ben McFarland’s vision, they provide a direction for creation and curbs for evolution; they show how God’s order and purpose run through billions of years of natural history. Speaking to us as a chemist and a Christian, Dr. McFarland will offer his take on the interplay of scientific and religious explanations for life. He will explore two metaphors depicting how God works…
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