COMMENTARY

Clapham Institute Blog

Welcome to the Clapham Institute Blog. You may have followed us previously at doggieheadtilt.com or come across us through a corporate event, church gathering, or online outreach. However you arrived here, we're glad to have you. If you have any questions about the content we're presenting, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

The Old Normal

By 2050, reckons the Pew Center, one of every three Christians in the world will be African. Many of these Africans are coming to faith in ways similar to what we read of in this first African convert in Acts. His experience is “the old normal.”

Baby Swipes

Why do babies so easily learn to swipe an iPhone? They’re not simply mimicking us. Tertullian would say they’re pointing us back to the hinge of salvation.

Play Ball

A reporter once asked German theologian Dorothee Sölle, “How would you explain happiness to a child?” “I wouldn’t explain it,” she answered. “I’d toss him a ball and let him play.” In 100 years we’ll know why Sölle was right.

$100/Ton Problem

Why does Africa import $50 billion worth of food that it could grow itself? Jon Vandenheuvel can give you the answer in one word.

Making Good on Our Promising Beginning

Thirty-five years ago Kathy and I stood at the altar and said: “I do.” We’ve been making good on that marriage promise ever since. That’s the central picture for generosity.

Kiss Me

Well?… aren’t you going to kiss me? My wife Kathy posed that question after saying yes to my marriage proposal. I replied yes—and with that kiss, we came close to embodying the embodied gospel.

End of the Faith?

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entering World War I. Dubbed “the war to end all wars,” many historians say it was instead the war that ended the faith.

This Is Us

The TV drama “This Is Us” is the highest rated new series of the season among adults under 50. Could it be because the show reflects the original “Us” storyline?

Can't Get There From Here

Every church seeks to be like the original in Acts 2. Most American churches, however, can’t get there from here.

Our Lack of Urgency

Tod Bolsinger has a powerful metaphor for what the Western church is facing today. But it tells us that few see the situation the Western church is facing.