America’s first freedom, the freedom of religion, took center stage Wednesday during President Obama’s religious liberty speech at a Muslim mosque in Baltimore. Trumpeting the presence, contribution and value of people of Muslim faith throughout American history, the President encouraged the American public to embrace Muslims today by suggesting that differences in religion do not matter […]
It is not taking long for dystopian fear about Zika to spread. Purveyors of death have descended upon vulnerable pregnant woman and economic threats to entire societies are very real. Those who have been battling in the U.S. for the unborn have been equipped to fight on this new front of the “battle for life.” […]
The Zika virus has South and Central America in a near panic. With no vaccine and no known cure, the fear associated with delivering a baby with severe neurological problems has led to the recommendation that all women of child-bearing age avoid getting pregnant until at least 2018. The Centers for Disease Control say that […]
Sometimes the right hand and left know exactly what the other is doing Does your left hand know what your right hand is doing? Physiologically, yes. Organizationally, not always. When we encounter incongruent directives or conflicting information we often respond in exasperation that “the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing!” By this […]
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: […]