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This edition is sponsored by Aspen Group |
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Jon Ronson’s new book, The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men, paints a picture of modern male malaise but neglects common desperation in favor of minor celebrities. |
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Hymnals offer something valuable and different from projection-aided worship. This 2024 story explores modern ways Christians are going by the book. |
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From CT contributor Matt Reynolds: One part of me signed on to review Jon Ronson’s newest book, The Castle, as a serious person interested in a serious subject: men losing their social and economic footing in today’s world. Another side did so as an incurable nostalgic, entranced by the book jacket’s promise of a story set in the "forests of New England." |
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I grew up among those forests, and I’ve missed them dearly ever since moving away, first to the Midwest and then (as of a month ago) to Southern California. Perhaps, I thought, this book might top off my memory tank right before autumn, when the heaviest homesickness typically sets in—and the Facebook algorithms start feeding me fall foliage therapy. |
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The Castle is too thematically downbeat to serve as chicken soup—or apple cider—for the native Northeasterner’s soul. But it did trigger a very specific recollection that had me laughing at the one-in-a-million odds. Ronson’s book title alludes to an actual castle he investigated, and right away I realized I’ve been there! |
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Well, kind of. Back in my news reporter days in Massachusetts, almost 20 years ago, my editor once got off the phone breathless with excitement. Someone had tipped him off about a mysterious castle supposedly under construction across the state line, in Woodstock, Connecticut. He sent me on a reconnaissance outing. But despite several trips up and down the same back road, I never noticed any spires or gargoyles poking above the treetops. |
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Turns out the castle project hadn’t progressed beyond the early phases. But it was real, and Ronson’s book effectively lowers the drawbridge, if only to reveal something skin-crawlingly tawdry. Outward splendor notwithstanding, you want to leave it off your Woodstock itinerary and hit up the orchards and antique shops instead. |
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A well-designed church space expands your ministry’s reach and transformative power but a space that isn’t formational nor mission-aligned can be detrimental. |
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That’s why Aspen Group works closely with you to design and build a space that fits your budget, supports your ministry, and prioritizes spiritual formation for generations to come. |
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Because when your space meets today’s unique needs while remaining flexible enough to adapt to tomorrow’s changes, you go farther and move faster on the mission God has called you to. Learn more about partnering with Aspen Group to see what’s possible for your space—and your mission. |
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Today in Christian History |
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September 14, 258: Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, is beheaded during the persecution under Roman Emperor Valerian (see issue 27: Persecution in the Early Church). |
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"We inherited two worlds—one of hope to which we were bred; one of a certain disillusion which we had discovered for ourselves." F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote those words of the 1920s, speaking…
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Liberty University students who got up for an early class on September 11, 2001, may have skimmed a copy of the Liberty Champion at breakfast in the dining hall. If they did, they…
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Growing up, I often heard one statement in my church youth group: "The most loving thing you can do is tell someone the truth." The statement became especially potent whenever…
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Sitting alone in a tepee-like shelter made from sticks collected by a dry African riverbed in 1974, 24-year-old Debbie Dortzbach stitched the words of Psalm 34:4 onto a white bandage…
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For our 70th anniversary issue, we’re studying the past. Excerpts from our archives show evangelicals in Billy Graham’s day and our own grappling with our place in public life. A new book offers a fascinating history of Christian womanhood—but makes a misleading argument, according to our reviewer. We’re also peering into the future. Artificial intelligence, GLP-1 drugs, anti-aging surgeries, next steps for the pro-life movement: These are some of the issues likely to occupy Christians for the next seven decades. But mostly, we’re spending time in the present: With a Honduran man who found himself pastoring in a Massachusetts jail while detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. With the evangelical owners of a traditional Korean spa engaged in a religious freedom showdown. With faithful believers doing good work—a chef, an architect, a ball boy, a teacher (who, at age 91, is older than CT!). And with the writers of our newly expanded testimony section, who found God’s faithfulness in the midst of alien conspiracies, after a bad accident, and via an envelope in a refrigerator. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amid our own era’s change, conflict, and uncertainty, we hope this issue declares that reassuring truth. |
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