Author Archives: Mark

Alistair Begg, the well-known former pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, OH and the voice of Truth for Life, a broadcast ministry heard on more than 1800 radio stations across America, found himself in the midst of a controversy. To use his own words, he “set the cat among the pigeons” by suggesting to aContinue reading “Should I Go to the Wedding?”

In the last two posts we explored the facts regarding transgender participation in athletics, and the values that are framing the issue in the public sphere. In this post we will explore how we as Christians should (and should not) lend our voices to the discussion. First of all lets consider what we should NOTContinue reading “Trans Kids in Athletics – A Christian Response”

I almost got fired coaching seventh and eighth grade girls basketball. All because I did not understand how values work, and what values are in play in junior and senior high athletics. I wish I had known then what I know now! For more on the story, read on… Someone once told me (and IContinue reading “Why I Almost Got Fired as a Coach – Trans Athletes Part Two”

In the past week two events have garnered national attention. In California a transgender girl is competing in the state qualifying meets in the triple jump, high jump, and long jump. Her participation has sparked protests, letters from high school principals, and national news stories. Similarly, in the Chicago suburb of Naperville a junior highContinue reading “Trans Athletes – Just the Facts”

In recent days I have received a number of phone calls and emails from pastors and fellow Christians with questions about transgender athletes and sport participation. In part these were sparked by two cases that have received some national attention: a trans girl competing in junior high track in the Chicago suburbs and another transContinue reading “Trans Athletes – What’s Going On?”

On “National Girls & Women’s Sports Day” (February 5, 2025) President Trump signed an executive order entitled, “No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order.” The goal was to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sporting events. Late in 2024, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said, “Look, men are men and women are women.”Continue reading “It’s Not That Simple”

In my last blog post I explored the reasons why some Christians refuse to use a person’s preferred pronouns, and concluded that using someone’s preferred pronouns simply makes grammatical sense. In that post I wrote: The most common usage of pronouns in America today is to use them to refer to someone’s self-affirmed gender. SoContinue reading “Pronouns Part Two”

This spring has produced a number of opportunities to speak to groups of pastors and Lutheran congregations. At almost every gathering, during the Q&A time, someone has asked something like, “My niece wants me to call her ‘he/him.’ Should I do that?” I was not well prepared for that question and I am afraid IContinue reading “He/Him, She/Her, They/Them?”

The song “Drunk People” by country singer Ryan Hurd contains the line, “Come as you are, this place ain’t got no steeple.” He is referencing a bar where everyone is welcome, no matter what their past, how they struggle, or who they happen to be. In this particular bar you can come as you are…Continue reading “Drunk People”

I was at a Super Bowl party with a bunch of friends, most of whom do not have a church home or a connection to Jesus. There was a huge projection screen for all to see and a state of the art sound system filling the room. As is normal for the big game, theContinue reading “The Super Bowl, Politics, and Jesus”