Special thanks to David Kinnaman for his beautiful Foreword, and to Barbara Brown Taylor for contributing her haunting poem/prayer “The Mountain.”
Thank you to everyone who helped The Jesus Climb reach NUMBER ONE!
“Faith Formation Simplified: Guiding People into Spiritual Depth” MasterClass by Dr. Gary David Stratton, Noon Wednesdays (10/9 & 10/16)
Author of The Jesus Climb: Journeying from Student to Disciple “Gradually, very gradually, we saw the great mountain sides and glaciers until far higher in the sky than imagination had dared suggest the white summit of Everest appeared” – George…
Teaching The Jesus Climb by Gary David Stratton
Resources for faculty and campus ministers seeking to help students on their journey to discipleship (QRF) TEACHING THE JESUS CLIMB: Fostering a community of faculty, campus ministers, student life leaders, pastors, and youth workers seeking to guide students on their…
Emmy Magazine’s Interview with Gary, Kurt Schemper, and Korey Scott Pollard
College professors don’t get calls from Emmy magazine, do they?
Discipleship in Higher Education: Gary on the ABHE Podcast
Gary visits Philip Dearborn’s Podcast to explore the crucial role of faculty in the spiritual lives of students. To listen on Apple, click here. Show Notes: Gary David Stratton, PhD, the Dean of Arts and sciences and Professor of Spiritual…
Announcing the Johnson University Center for the Sciences
The “Breaking New Ground” capital campaign kicks off with an announcement of our new campus science center. Click the link below to watch Gary’s announcement video. (Who knew he would clean up so well?) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2136001646756985 You can help create much-needed…
The Second Great Awakening: From Rural Revival to National Social Movement
More than a century before the New Deal, Public Education, or the Civil Rights movements, the Second Great Awakening fostered a nation-wide “benevolent empire” of care for the poor, freedom for the oppressed and education for all.
The First Great Awakening: From British Revival to American Revolution
By linking the choice of new birth with his audience’s choice of a new American identity, British evangelist George Whitefield provided a common American experience that unified diverse colonists who lacked a common identity
The Shield of St Patrick: A Prayer for Aid in Dark Times
Patrick developed his “shield” or “breast-plate” prayer to help him “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:12) in the midst of the incredible trials he faced fostering shalom in Ireland. It’s the type of prayer our nation needs today.
Thoughts on Lent (with a Hollywood slant)
My background led me to hold liturgy with a little disdain, and I regret that posture. That day, sitting in a small room not far from the well-known Hollywood sign, I saw something new and fresh.
Why Lent is Less Like Monty Python and More Like Moana
Why Lent is Less Like Monty Python and More Like Moana
Moana can’t create the wind and the waves, but her sail canoe enables her to catch the energy provided by the ocean. Lent is a lot like that.
by Gary David Stratton
“Don’t you think it’s a little odd to give up something for Lent in order to worship a Savior who told us to remember him by eating carbs and drinking alcohol?” she said. How was I supposed to answer that?
Belief in God, Not Just Ideas About God
Gary’s interview on the Deeper Magic podcast with Dr. Peter Kapsner and his daughter, Anna Try this link if embed won’t work for you. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QE0k6QXVLqcNQEjJmCmFU
Watch for the “The Jesus Climb,” April 2024
Gary is currently on a writing break completing edits for The Jesus Climb: Journeying from Student to Disciple (Abilene Christian University Press / Leafwood Publishers, 2024)
The College Chapel: Medieval Relic or Spiritual Hot Spot?
That Asbury University’s chapel has become a “hot spot of sacramentality” {James K.A. Smith] would not surprise the founders of Christian higher education in America. The integration of revival and moral philosophy in the college chapel helped lead to what Mark. A. Noll calls “the great age of Christian higher education.”
Revival and Moral Philosophy: A Founding Vision for American Higher Education
While Asbury University’s current revival appears a modern anomaly, it is very much in keeping with the history of higher education in America.
The Holy Spirit and the Liberal Arts: Higher Education, Innovation, and the Mission of the Church
Will twenty-first century Christian college leaders rise to the challenge of innovation as we have throughout history or will we merely get stuck in the past?
Gary’s Theology in Film Introductory Video
Hollywood dominates “the stories we live by,” while the church’s influence diminishes with each passing year.
Finding Peace in a Time of Pandemic
The stunning ‘pause’ forced upon our modern world places an unprecedented challenge before the church: How do we remain faithful to God’s glorious dream of Shalom-making in the midst of a world in crisis?
30 Favorite Christmas Movies and TV Specials
If the stable teaches us anything it’s that you can’t always judge a Christmas classic by its humble beginnings.
Gary quoted in Washington Post article on Pastoral Plagiarism
Preachers love to borrow from each other, but the practice can sometimes lead to plagiarism.
Pastoral Plagiarism: Gary with Amy Fritz on Untangled Faith Podcast
On Episode 2 of the Untangled Faith Podcast, Dr. Gary David Stratton joins Amy Fritz to discuss pastoral plagiarism.
Conspiracy and the 180 Toward Renewal (Podcast)
What troubled me most was the unmistakable presence of Christian symbols in the sea of law-abiding protestors, law-breaking rioters, and treasonous insurrectionists. Crosses and Jesus flags mixed freely with Trump banners and Confederate flags. They raise deep questions about what it means to be a follower of Christ in our deeply divided country.
Can You Really Call Yourself a ‘Follower of Jesus’ if You Don’t Follow His Teachings? (Podcast)
Gary and Peter Kapsner (Ph.D. Edinburgh) discuss Luke 6:42 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not follow my teachings?”
Spiritual Formation: The Four Heart Attitudes (Podcast)
Gary and John C. Lemon discuss the four heart attitudes and the significance of endurance.
Spiritual Formation: Following Jesus as a Student (Podcast)
John C. Lemon interviews Gary on what it meant to following Jesus as a student in the First Century and today.
The Two-Handed Warrior: Life of the Mind and Spirit (Podcast)
John C. Lemon interviews Gary on how we can live devoted to both the Life of the Mind and the Life of the Spirit in this turbulent season of coming to grips with social injustice.
20 Movies and Books for Exploring Justice, Race, and Faith
Gary and I have had numerous requests for books (and of course, movies) to help people think through justice, race, and faith. This introductory list might be a good place to start.
God’s Regret: The Bible, a King, and What’s at Stake for American Christians in 2020
What two factors might lead God to “regret” putting a leader into power?
A Service of Lament and Confession, Johnson University, Tennessee
Let us not value a false peace over a righteous justice.
Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
“Shelter in Place” takes on new meaning in the light of an ancient psalm.
The Volcano in Your Backyard: The High Cost of Not Knowing Your Own Story
No one plans on a volcanic eruption in their backyard, but they’re more common than you think. Especially when there are so many unseen forces at work in the depths of our worldview. Just ask Jeannie and Kevin about their honeymoon…
The Volcano in Your Backyard: The High Cost of Not Knowing Your Own Story, Part 2
Our largely subconscious values and belief system grows out of our unique life story and profoundly influences our life strategy. Yet it is so deeply tied to our identity it can be extremely difficulty to detect, even in ourselves. Still, it is possible to at least catch a glimpse… if you know where to look.
Story Failure: Why We ‘Lose it’ in High-Stress Environments, Part 2
The stories, beliefs and strategies we develop to survive life’s most painful experiences inevitably fail us in high stress environments. Here’s why.
Story Failure: Why We ‘Lose it’ in High-Stress Environments
Contrary to popular belief, the drug of choice in Hollywood, the business world, higher education, (and the church) is not cocaine. It’s adrenaline.
Guardians of Our Galaxy: Worldview and the Power of Story
“The shaping of our character is, to a great extent, the effect of stories that have captivated us, that have sunk into our bones.” -James K.A. Smith
The Greco-Roman Liberal Arts: When Students were More than Numbers
Whereas Plato and Aristotle interacted with their students as friends, the depersonalized modern university student is often little more than a number. No relationship means no moral transformation, at least not for the good.
Scripture and Culture-Making: What Christian Colleges could Learn from Rabbinic Higher Education
Do 21st-century Christian colleges hold the gospel of Rabbi Jesus in as high a regard as 1st-century Jewish educators held the Torah?
With Prayer in the School of Christ: Higher Education and the Knowledge of God
For Jesus prayer and education were inseparable, because education and the knowledge of God are inseparable.
Saint Patrick and the Missional Future of Christian Higher Education
The patron saint of Ireland is rarely credited with what was perhaps his greatest achievement. (Hint: It’s not green beer.)
Do America’s Colleges Need Revival?
Before we can learn anything from Jonathan Edwards, we first need to humble ourselves as he did on that fateful day in 1734, when he finally admitted that “business as usual” was failing his students.
Jonathan Edwards Goes to Movies: What Story Structure Can Teach Us About Religious Affections
The inciting event presents the hero with a decision: Shall I continue in the relative comfort of my business-as-usual life, or risk pursuing a new and more dangerous goal? A lot like Lent is designed to do…
Ideas Have Consequences: The Power and Limits of Existentialism, Dead Poets Society 2
Part 9 of series: Hollywood and Higher Education: Teaching Worldview Thru the Stories We Live By “No matter what anyone tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” -Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) by Gary David Stratton The main characters of…
Bungee-Jumping to Eternity: The Existential Angst of Dead Poets Society
Part of ongoing series: Hollywood and Higher Education: Teaching Worldview Thru the Stories We Live By “Carpe Diem! Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” -Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) by Gary David Stratton Dead Poets Society, 1989 Oscar winner…
Hollywood and Higher Education: Worldview and the Stories We Live By
Raised in a culture dominated by Hollywood storytelling—from Disney to Tarantino—my students often know Hollywood’s stories better than they know their own.
Casablanca and the Four Levels of Worldview: Why Everyone Meets at Rick’s
By changing the foundational story of Rick’s life from that of a “self-centered love-betrayed” to the story of a “other-centered love renewed” Ilsa transforms Rick’s values and rule of life as well.
Fiddler on the Roof: Worldview Change and the Foundational Power of Story
Like Tevye, the stories of Scripture provide not only fertile soil for nurturing reinterpretations of our philosophy and culture for a new generation, but also irresistible bedrock for grounding the story of our own life in the mind of God.
Crash Goes the Worldview: Why Character Transformation Requires Changing Scripts
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then we are constantly flattering the individuals and communities who have transmitted their “scripts” to us. But how do we change our story if we’re a character in somebody else’s play?
Unity and Racial Reconciliation in Bizarro World, by Efrem Smith and Gary David Stratton
Efrem Smith and Gary David Stratton provided black and white perspectives on Unity and Reconciliation in the body of Christ in Johnson University’s kickoff to Black History Month.
Father’s Day Week Tribute to my Father, Warren K. Stratton (1933 – 2012)
“The only way to know for sure if a decision is motivated purely by good ethics is when it is bad for business.” Warren K. Stratton, University of Washington School of Engineering
The Soul Killing Problem of Bad Art, by Ashley Ariel
As artists and as theologians (for make no mistake, we are all living out some form of theology making us all theologians) we need to be less sure of being “right” and more secure in taking the risk to say, “I don’t know. Let’s explore this.”
All-Time Top Films for Deep Culture Impact
Tonight the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will award the 2015 Best Picture, yet the academy missed most of these “Deep Culture” Impact films. Will this year’s winner one day join this august company?
Why are ‘Deep Culture Impact’ Films so Rare?
In the past 40 years only three Academy Award-winning films managed to break into the coveted top 60 all-time box office earners. Here’s Why.
High Culture? Pop Culture? Shouldn’t a Great Film Impact DEEP Culture?
One helpful (if imperfect) way to estimate ‘deep culture’ impact is to look for films that have achieved success what at what Hollywood sometimes calls the “double bottom-line.”
The Oscar “Huh?!” Factor: Why Academy Voters Usually Pick the Wrong Film
The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg recently opined: “I try to vote in a way so that, in 50 years, people aren’t going to go, ‘Huh?!’” Sadly, history reveals that, when it comes to picking a film audiences will recognize as truly great 50 years from now, Oscar voters nearly always miss the mark. Here’s why.
You Are What You Eat (and Do): Why You Might Not Want to Give Up Chocolate For Lent
At first glance, the concept of Embodied Cognition looks more like some new whackadoodle academic program than serious research. But could it be scientific evidence for an ancient Christian practice?
Paparazzi in the Hands of an Angry God: The Great Awakening and the Birth of American Celebrity Culture
Think the fiery Puritan who preached America’s most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of Angry God,” would threaten to dangle celebrities over the pit of hell? Think again.
The Ride: Connecting to God in Hollywood, the Ivy League, and Beyond
Spiritual disciplines are designed not so much to “get you somewhere” in your career so much as to keep you alive spiritually in the constantly shifting landscape of success and failure we call “life.”
Opening Doors for Others: An Interview with Writer-Producer & Mentor Brian Bird
Prolific writer-producer Brian Bird is co-founder of Believe Pictures (with Michael Landon, Jr.) with the mission of developing and producing “high quality, entertaining, and life-and-faith-affirming, films and television depicting positive images and compelling moral stories.” Bird and Landon wrote and…
Danger! Angry Blogger: The Apostle Paul’s Cyber-Relationship Checklist, by Gary David Stratton
“Christians are routinely taught by example and word that it is more important to be right than to be Christlike. In fact, being right licenses you to be mean, indeed, requires you to be mean.” -Dallas Willard, Renovation of the…
Love Wins? The Irony of the Rob Bell Universalism Controversy
“Love Wins” may be the most ironic title in the history of Christian publishing. No matter how you slice it, love is the one thing that is NOT winning in this advance publication chatter. Gauge the intensity of the battle raging on the internet and it becomes immediately obvious that something else is a stake than asking whether or not Gandhi is in hell.
Two Handed Warrior Books of the Decade, by Gary & Sue Stratton
Sue and I put our heads together over dinner at Outback last night and came up with our own twenty (popular) books on the two themes of Two Handed Warriors—Culture Making and Faith Building.
Hollywood Responds to “Paparazzi in the Hands of an Angry God”
The goal of Two Handed Warriors is to foster an ongoing conversation seeking to redefine, re-envision, and then reconstruct the relationship between faith and culture. Toward that end, I am posting a few responses to Paparazzi in the Hands of…
Higher Education Responses to “Paparazzi in the Hands of an Angry God”
The goal of Two Handed Warriors is to foster an ongoing conversation seeking to redefine, re-envision, and then reconstruct the relationship between faith and culture. Toward that end, I am posting a few responses to Paparazzi in the Hands of…