About an hour before the event, I spotted a beat-up car slowly wandering through the parking lot near the classic show vehicles. My heart rate skyrocketed. Certain this lone assassin was seconds away from totaling someone’s prized ’68 Camaro, I locked eyes on the threat and marched heroically toward the scene—only to walk directly into a metal No Parking sign.

With only two months to breathe life into a brand-new concept—and as the only person on the planning team actually employed by Central Church—I rushed straight to work. We decided early on that football would anchor our first Gameday event, since the season launches in August and resonates deeply with our community. But the goal was never just an evening of free food, bounce houses, and football décor. Our vision was to introduce Central Church, and the warmth of her people, to the community through a shared cultural love. Grilled hot dogs and games alone wouldn’t accomplish that.

Through my research, I found that men addicted to sports often become strangers in their own homes. This essay will explore where sports obsession began historically, how modern culture intensifies it, why men are ensnared by it, what consequences follow, and finally how Scripture speaks to the problem.

In the aftermath of the 2004 presidential election, scholars renewed their attention to the role of religion in American electoral politics. George W. Bush mobilized a sizable religious bloc in his reelection campaign against Senator John Kerry, strengthening the perception that highly religious voters tend to vote Republican while less religious voters tend to vote Democratic. This pattern became widely known as the “God Gap.” The implication was clear: if Democrats hoped to win back the White House, they would need to compete more effectively for religious voters. In 2008, Barack Obama made narrowing the “God Gap” a visible priority of his campaign.

In The Disappearing God Gap, six contributing authors analyze how religion functioned in Obama’s historic victory. The book argues that religion played a meaningful role throughout the campaign process—from both parties’ primaries through Election Day. While American public policy maintains a formal separation of church and state, the book insists that this does not mean religion and politics are separated in practice.

One of Nolan’s most compelling features, however, is easy to miss beneath the weight of plot twists, villains, and thrills: the relationship between Bruce Wayne/Batman and his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. This relationship becomes philosophically illuminating when read alongside Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, written in Berlin and published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio (“John the Silent”). The title, drawn from Paul’s letter to the Philippians—“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12)—signals Kierkegaard’s concern with the seriousness of faith. In a Kierkegaardian analysis of Nolan’s narrative, Bruce Wayne embodies the ethical individual who devotes himself to the universal common good, while Alfred—guardian, watchman, and provider—resembles the knight of faith, the religious individual.

When I began my role at Central Church in early 2022, I was stepping into a world that felt entirely new. I had never worked in a large evangelical church with a full team of support staff and an army of dedicated volunteers. As a part-time college pastor and cash-strapped church planter in previous seasons, “thinking big” was usually synonymous with “thinking cheaply.” Even so, I always loved dreaming up creative ways to do outreach.

A church’s success is rarely measured the way Christ measures it. In our culture, we love what is large, impressive, and successful. We celebrate churches with swelling attendance, polished branding, and seemingly endless resources. But Revelation 3 reminds us that Christ evaluates His church by a completely different standard. He is not impressed by what dazzles the world. He is moved by what is faithful to Him.

This trend has been building for years. Young adults are delaying marriage and children, and the preference for singlehood continues to rise. A recent study of 25–34-year-olds in 14 countries, published in The Economist, reveals just how deeply this shift has taken root. Yet beneath the statistics lies a deeper issue affecting many young adults today.

Baseball is the game of the long season, where small, incremental differences determine who wins games, series, and championships. When you go to the ballpark, you know you might win or you might lose. Nothing is certain. Baseball isn’t a game for those who demand victory every time. The best team will lose a third of its games, and the worst team will win a third. The difference lies in the middle third. The best hitters succeed only 25 to 30 percent of the time. Failure happens far more often than success.

Why do church offices matter? Not because they save us, but because they shape us.

Many leaders treat church polity as a side topic—tertiary, practical, even negotiable. It is true: we are not debating an attribute of God or the doctrine of inerrancy. Yet if Scripture speaks about the church’s structure, then wisdom invites us to listen. God, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, reveals His purposes not only in doctrines to believe but also in patterns to embody. Polity is one of those patterns.

Most of my casino knowledge comes not from firsthand experience but from movies and television. On screen, casinos often appear glamorous, but in reality they exude an atmosphere of discontentment, exploitation, and false promises. Watching Ocean’s Eleven for perhaps the millionth time, I found myself unsettled by a question that has since weighed heavily on me: How similar is the American church to a modern-day casino?

Belief is a word we hear often, but what does it really mean to believe the gospel? Psalm 100 shows us the end goal: a life overflowing with praise, thanksgiving, and joyful worship. But how do we get there when our hearts are so often weary, distracted, or even ashamed? Let’s walk through four truths that reveal why the gospel is good news, why belief is so vital, and why we can live unashamed in the light of Christ.

The Antediluvian period, or the era between creation and the Flood, is described in Genesis 1–6. God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. On the sixth day, He created man and woman in His image. Moses’ account becomes more specific as Adam is named and placed in the garden of Eden, located “in the east.” Moses gives geographical markers: four rivers surrounding the garden—the Pishon (linked to the land of Havilah), the Gihon (flowing around Cush), the Tigris (east of Assyria), and the Euphrates. This suggests Eden may have been located in the region of modern-day Iraq or Iran.

In the heart of the Protestant Reformation was a cry that still echoes in our churches today: Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone. For the Reformers, this wasn’t a slogan of rebellion but a return. It was a return to the foundation that had once grounded the early church—the Word of God rightly read, taught, and trusted.

Let me take you back to the summer of 2018. Lisa and I traveled through Dubai to Nepal for the first time, accompanied by three fellow members of my former church, Redeemer Fellowship Church. The trip was in response to an invitation from Dan Pokharel, the Nepali founder of Global Mission Nepal, a church-planting ministry. Dan and I were doctoral students together at Southern Seminary. He often wrote his papers about Nepal, and through them, I came to witness the incredible stories of God’s power in that nation. Over the past few decades, it has felt as though the Book of Acts is being reenacted in Nepal—and Pastor Dan has been at the center of it.

On our last day in Dubai, Lisa and I ventured into the desert—something neither of us had ever done. We joined a small group of strangers for a guided excursion into what I call "the oasis in the desert." Our guide, Hazer, was a kind man from Pakistan who, like many others, had left his family behind to work in the Sheikh’s grand city.

In a world full of chaos, confusion, and suffering, the invitation of Jesus rings out like a healing balm: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The rest Christ offers is not temporary relief or worldly comfort—it is eternal hope and peace found only through unwavering and humble faith in Him.

Dubai is not a new destination for Lisa and me. We passed through briefly during our first trip to Nepal in 2018, taking the metro during a long layover to catch a glimpse of the city before continuing on to Kathmandu. But to say we had truly been to Dubai would be generous.

These paragraphs chronicles my journey with my wife, Lisa, to Asia. We started in Orlando (which is not Asia). Then, we flew directly to the oasis in the desert, Dubai. After a few days, hop a plane to Kathmandu, Nepal, the home of Mount Everest. We only stayed a moment there, before hitching a ride on Buddha Air to Chitwan, Nepal, which have wild rhinos (a teaser). We will finish our adventure back in Kathmandu. After returning home, we would have traveled 21,632 miles (34,820 kilometers). To put that distance in context, we have traveled nearly 87% of the total distance around the earth.