I spent the last two days in prayer with leaders representing more than a third of the churches in America. In the spirit of Joel 1:14, we gathered to “Cry Out to the Lord” in solemn assembly. It was a time of united prayer – across all that ordinarily divides us generationally, racially, and denom […]
Think of this as an exercise in taking a year-end inventory of your life and cultivating the spiritual soil for an abundant harvest in the year ahead. Taking stock of your spiritual life Get out your 2015 calendar, your journal, your Bible and your check register. Slowly, soberly look through them and take stock. Bible […]
As we approach the celebration of Christmas, let us unwrap the mystery and the meaning of the manger. From the perspective of reasoned thought or a rational mind, the Bible’s claim that the God of the universe, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, took on human flesh by being born of a virgin some 2,000 years […]
Like you, I grew up under the rule of “polite company.” My parents regularly entertained and our home was an almost continual parade from Thanksgiving to New Years. My sister and I always had assigned responsibilities and we were briefed on the names, relationships and interests of all who would be in attendance. Then there […]
While the airwaves are filled with the refrain “Mary did you know” the person of Mary, the circumstances of conception, and the nature of her child, Jesus, are sources of deep theological division. Evangelical Christians and Muslims agree that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. But Progressive Christians and Jews reject that. Some Eastern Christians and Roman […]
Donald Trump says he’s a Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church (USA) says he’s not. Who’s right? Curiously, Donald Trump is not the one asking what it means to be Presbyterian. The PCUSA is having that conversation about its own identity. The denomination’s online survey that is being used to discern the identity of the PCUSA, begins: […]
It has been said that all the world is a stage and in our Flickr/Instagram culture your audience can span the globe. No longer do those watching need to inhabit the same physical space. It is now possible to have followers you’ve never led, fans you’ve never seen and Facebook friends you’ll never meet. We […]
What we in the West see as ancient history is contemporary day-to-day reality in the Middle East. “Today in history” matters today. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted in favor of Resolution 181, the plan for the partition of Palestine. That UN resolution ended the British Mandate adopted by […]
The question from the back seat was a good one: “Why is Friday called black?” and then the follow up, “and also, why is Black Friday black and Good Friday good?” I flipped through my mental rolodex to see if the question had been covered in Alex McFarland’s “The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will […]
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Or is it? More accurately stated: tomorrow is the official day of the year that the United States of America sets apart as “Thanksgiving Day.” Whether or not people actually give thanks on Thanksgiving Day is entirely up to them. That is evidence of the extraordinary freedom of thought and ideas we […]