Expressive Individualism and LGBTQ+: Q&A with Dr. Chad Ragsdale

*Editor’s Note: What is expressive individualism and how does it relate to contemporary trends regarding sexuality and gender? To help us understand this powerful worldview, I caught up with Dr. Chad Ragsdale, a Christian thinker on worldview and culture. In this conversation, we talk about modern views of truth and meaning and how Christians can […]
Renew Review: ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes how GenZ is overprotected in the real world—and underprotected in the virtual world. Professor Chad Ragsdale explores Haidt’s thesis and describes how we can learn from Haidt to help an anxious generation find peace.
Review of ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt

The title of Jonathan Haidt’s new book is not remotely controversial or debatable. That Gen Z is a uniquely anxious generation is demonstrated time and time again both in anecdotal experiences and in survey data. And this book has plenty of both. In fact, one of the most helpful things about The Anxious Generation was […]
Should Men Remain Silent on Abortion?

November 5, 2024 I’ll just cut to the chase. In the past several weeks, I’ve been told about a half dozen times by both men and women that I shouldn’t contribute to any conversation on abortion because of my gender. Never mind the fact that my own government in the state of Missouri is asking […]
How Could You Vote for ___?!

I saw a post on Facebook last week where a friend was expressing some thinly veiled frustration regarding a particular candidate for President. I’m confident you’ve seen plenty of posts on your own social media feed expressing this same type of sentiment. Maybe you’ve made some of these posts yourself. I’m not here to judge. […]
Gratitude and Meaninglessness

I’ve been doing some study from the book of Ecclesiastes lately. This is partly related to a book that I hope to write next year. I also spoke from Ecclesiastes at my daughter’s baccalaureate service recently. The more I’ve studied the book over the last several months, the more I’ve been impressed by a puzzle […]
3 Ways We Mishandle Our Minds

There are three mistakes commonly made by disciples when it comes to the mind. The first mistake is neglecting the mind. Neglecting the Mind In Mark Noll’s influential book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, the first line bluntly states, “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical […]
You Might Have a Problem That a Therapist Can’t Fix

Before I dive in, a mundane confession of my own uselessness. I think it is good for the soul to regularly be in situations where you are reminded of your own inadequacy and the adequacy of others. I’m a college administrator and professor. I have a terminal degree. This makes me useful for certain tasks […]