W. David O. Taylor

I’m reminding myself today that it’s OK to be un-interesting, unexciting, and un-remarkable and simply be a human who loves his wife in practical ways, makes lunches for the kids, files folders, grades papers, puts laundry away—and that this too is God-blessed good stuff.

"In other words, a large number of conservative Christians are in the midst of their own shame campaign. It turns out that they didn’t hate cancel culture so much as they hated feeling powerless and vulnerable." @DavidAFrench nytimes.com/2025/07/24/opi…

Ozzy Osbourne dies on Tuesday of this week and now Hulk Hogan has died. Add to that Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Brian Wilson, Val Kilmer, and Kenneth Colley, and you’ve got some of the most colorful figures of my teenage years who are passing on. variety.com/2025/tv/news/h…

"[Francis] urged us [as writers] to act as the voice of human anxieties—what he called “the tensions of the soul”—and he warned us not to “domesticate” these anxieties, which he took to be one of the primary places where we encounter God." @thelampmagazine thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue-2…

We've just heard that an audiobook for "Naming the Spirit," which I edited with Dan Train, is being produced by @ivpacademic. I don't think I've ever seen an audiobook produced for a multi-author scholarly volume, so this seems especially noteworthy! amazon.com/Naming-Spirit-…

On art as political resistance: “Guernica depicts not just the monstrous violence and cruelty of fascism, but an assault on the very thing that renders such expression possible…it has outlasted all the machinery of death…every lie and deceit.” libertiesjournal.com/online-article…

“In a world increasingly being played out online, going to Church should be an immersion in cold water that wakes us [up]…For that we need to be forced to put down those tools of our virtual life and spend that time with the physical world before us.” thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-20…

"I look for Jesus & I didn’t see him on the news. Saw him in Palestine; the power lines were out of juice/He was a 9-year-old; her body had been battered, bruised/Saw him in Zion too, a missile through a tattered roof...Saw him in Kyiv & Moscow." @nobigdyl christianitytoday.com/2025/07/nobigd…

"Human beings will put surprising amounts of energy into avoiding the reality of God." -Rowan Williams

We’ve had only one customs agent managing ALL the millions of US citizens coming through customs here at Austin Bergstrom. It’s so utterly lame. #MakeCustomsGreatLikeTheRestOfTheWorld

Those who follow Jesus are to be a people who tell the truth, not just to others but also, and perhaps chiefly, to themselves, as difficult as that may prove to be, and refuse to bear false witness. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. ("Prayers for the Pilgrimage" @ivpress)

Enjoy our first VCS venture into reels! Vivid doses of visual fascination to sharpen your theological insight.

Yes, that's a hawk. Yes, it's resting on my arm. Yes, I flew it. Yes, it was one of the best experiences of my life. 😲

The optics are still sketchy and the implications for artists grim, but also this: “The biggest reach for all of these shows now clearly is...YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, social. That’s where these shows get reach, and that’s where they have their power.” hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cbs…

"While older Gen Z was formed by direct action and activism, younger Gen Z is growing up in a reactionary era...They’ve watched cancel culture eat its own. They’re less convinced the world can be changed through hashtags and street protests." relevantmagazine.com/life5/turns-ou…