Don Veinot's Blog, page 5

The Gift

(“The Gift” was originally printed In the November/December 1996 MCOI Journal) What is it about Christmas that draws us every year to celebrations of this holiday? What is so special about Christmas? Christmas is a special time because of the happiness it brings. It’s a time of giving and receiving, a family time, a time […]

Social Justice?

(Note: A version of this essay was published in Academic Questions: A Journal from the National Association of Scholars, 37:2 (Summer 2024): 79-80.) Social justice is a phrase that ought to be banned from our vocabulary and never heard again. There are four reasons why this is so. First, the phrase has no specific referent […]

Why Christians Need to Talk About Video Games

Christians often struggle when it comes to pop culture. It seems like we tend to either be all-in or isolated entirely. We will produce Christian media, but usually, the only people reached by Christian media are…well…other Christians. The world just isn’t really interested in or drawn to what we produce. Technology in and of itself […]

Thanksgiving in the Midst of Hardship

If we said there is a great deal of angst and bitter division in our nation these days, I think most Americans would agree. Thankfully, Thanksgiving has arrived, and perhaps we may get a momentary reprieve from the never-ending cultural quarrel that besets us. It has always been one of our favorite holidays, a day […]

Do Spiritual Practices of Black Lives Matter Align with Haitian Voodoo?: Pt. 2

This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the religion of Voodoo. In Part 1, we discussed how Voodoo originates from the Ifá divination system of Yorubaland in West Africa. We also examined how animal sacrifices in Voodoo are reductionist of both man and the divine. The mutual dependence of man and God requires […]

We are not enemies

Nearly all Americans would admit this has been a difficult and divisive election season, and that might just be an understatement. Friends and in some cases family members have severed or “downgraded” relationships with their loved ones. Some media “talking heads” on the left are outright telling their viewers and/or followers that if they have […]

Animal Sacrifice in Haitian Voodoo – Part 1

During the September 10th, 2024 presidential debate, former President Donald Trump accused Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, of eating cats and dogs, thereby stirring up political controversy once again. While I live only thirty-five minutes from Springfield, in Dayton, OH, I cannot take a position on Trump’s statement one way or the other as […]

Two Ways to Worship a Golden Calf

I’ve been thinking about idolatry lately. The question that prompted this was, “What is the difference between idolatry and mere distraction.”  I know my cell phone is a distraction, but when John Mark Comer or Darren Whitehead makes me feel like I might be worshipping an idol, my discernment hackles get raised, and I start […]

The Coming of the Son of Man

When Jesus warned in Matthew 7:15 and told the people to “Beware of false prophets,” He did describe them – saying they will look remarkably like true prophets. They would be wearing “sheep’s clothing.” They would look “right,” sound “right,” and might even perform miracles, the better to deceive. It would be their fruit, i.e., […]

Revisiting “A House Divided Against Itself”

Twenty years ago, right after the Bush v Kerry election, we wrote a journal article, “A House Divided Against Itself,” about the state of our nation. It was specifically about the yawning divide that had opened up between the two parties, or more accurately, between two dueling visions of what our nation should be and […]