Star Trek and Faith Stories

When I heard that my brother in law, Eric, was a Star Trek fan, I had visions of little nieces and nephews running around with Spock ears and Worf masks, speaking Klingon to one another at family gatherings. Oh no, I thought-- my sister married a Trekkie.

But when I sat down with Eric, to talk about why the story of Star Trek appealed to him, and how the story helped him find some good in the world, and in other human beings, I was impressed to see the breadth and depth of the social and moral lessons he had gleaned from his years of watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

I was more impressed to see how those lessons, compared and contrasted to his faith in Jesus Christ, pushed him towards a deeper understanding of that faith-- towards something that could provide true answers for life, where Star Trek fell short, mired in its own visions of a humanist utopia.

Repentance, love, and missionary work with the Klingons. It’s all there. Listen in on the conversation at The Crossroads Radio Network on Live365.com.

How To Not Be A Fundamentalist

I had a great conversation with Anne T. the other day, in which we talked about hokey conversion stories, Touched By An Angel, homeschooling, and planting a church next door to a bar. You can listen in, as soon as it's live on The Crossroads Radio Network at Live365.com (see the link in the sidebar).

She made an interesting observation at one point-- we were talking about how she was going to raise her son in ways that honor God as Creator, and Savior, and giver of life-- in the midst of a culture that glorifies death.

Her answer: homeschooling.

The nervous laughter that followed was explained further when she shared her fear of being labeled a fundamentalist or a separatist. For someone who deeply loves people, who engages the culture around her through art and music, literature and movies and conversation with churched- and unchurched friends-- this is a very real fear.

And she had no easy solution, except to live in that tension-- staying faithful to the word of God made known through Jesus Christ.

It really was a great conversation. Lots of fun to talk with her over Skype, even though the my internet connection was being tempermental due to a passing thunderstorm.

She nursed Sam while we talked, and I got the sense that he's already growing in faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ, even at his young age, thanks to Anne & Ryan and their commitment to being faithful disciples of Christ first and faithful Christian parents (a very close) second.

Thanks, Anne!