Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Time Apart
Some fortunate professions, most notably those in higher education, enjoy the enlightened tradition of the sabbatical, a periodic time away from regular duties of employment. While the word implies a break every seven...
A Mystical Passover
A few years back, I attended what was called a mystical Seder, put together by a Jewish Renewal group--Ruach Torah--of which I'd become a part. Jewish Renewal is a modern branch of Judaism, and Ruach Torah describes...
To Our Christian Friends: Celebrate Judaism, But Don’t Try To Convert Us
When I open the daily paper I sometimes anticipate reading both good and bad news. Such was the case this last Saturday morning as I sat in my home, just before leaving to go to my synagogue to lead Shabbat morning...
Autism and Easter
She was born perfect. Second-born child with blonde hair, bright eyes and all the right sounds: "God had smiled on us," her mother said. Life was good. Second-born child with blonde hair, bright eyes and all the right...
Why I Believe in the Resurrection
This Sunday Christians around the world will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The Resurrection is viewed by believers just about everywhere as the foundation of Christianity. They assert that by raising Jesus from...
Just As We Are
People often stare at Darryl Kramer, and children regularly ask her lots of questions. An achondroplasia dwarf, Kramer is 3' 9" tall. Her condition means that her limbs are very short. Kramer and her family live in...
Top Search Engines Fold on Gambling Ads
Google and Yahoo, two of the most popular Internet search engines, will stop running ads for online casinos by the end of April, the New York Times reported. The new policy could significantly alter the future of...
Seinfeld, Superman Team Up for AmEx ‘Webisode’ Ads
One of the best new ads isn't on TV, and it isn't in a magazine. It's not on the radio, and it's not an Internet pop-up. No, it's a four-minute film short starring Jerry Seinfeld and Superman—and it's available only on...
The Cost of Peace
It has been just over a year since American military forces invaded Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction. The "war on terrorism" has perhaps become a rationalization for American military deployment and rather...
Some Question Popularity of Christian ‘Seders’
In a confluence that happens just every several years, Holy Week leading up to Easter overlaps with the Jewish Passover, an eight-day celebration which began Monday at sundown. That, along with the discussion...
Telling the Gospel Story Without Defaming Jews
Imagine if a new religious group told a story on a particular holiday that depicted first-century Christians as fanatical, arrogant, disruptive followers of a cult leader named Jesus. Their story tells how these...
Bogus E-mail Purports Effort to Ban Religious Broadcasting
In the latest twist on an urban legend that will not die, an e-mail message is making the rounds purporting to be a warning from Focus on the Family's James Dobson about a supposed attempt to ban religious broadcasting...
Empowerment With Media: An Interview With Teresa Blythe
"Meeting God in Virtual Reality: Using Spiritual Practices With Media," written by Teresa Blythe and Daniel Wolpert, offers readers some methods for praying with popular culture products. Blythe, a spiritual director,...
Re-thinking the Atonement
Now that the rush of excitement surrounding The Passion of the Christ is over, it is time to step into the space it has provided for dialogue about the meaning of the life of Jesus. I believe the most profound question...
‘Passion’ Ignites Controversy, Fills Theaters in Middle East
Controversy and curiosity have followed Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" to the Middle East. Critics and publics alike are debating its stances on Semitism, even as cinemas across the Arab world screen the film...
Talking About Screens: An Interview With Daniel Wolpert
Researchers say the average American spends about seven hours a day in front of some sort of screen: television, movie, computer. Acknowledging this reality, Abingdon Press is releasing a new book aimed at helping...
Cecil Staton Again Seeks Public Office
Moderate Baptist publisher Cecil Staton, who two years ago ran unsuccessfully for Congress on a platform reaching out to the religious right, is re-entering politics, thanks to a court-ordered redistricting that puts...
Antidotes for Doubt and Fear
At about this time last year, my wife and I were prepared to leave for a volunteer mission project in Nairobi, Kenya. Fear of impending war in Iraq at the time and earlier terrorist attacks in the east African nation...
Moving Baptists and Jews Forward Together
Baptists and Jews face each other today in some ways as Esau and Jacob faced each other after their rupture 22 years earlier over the blessing of their father Isaac. We are somewhat suspicious. We cannot ignore one...
The Maestro
At the age of 4, Joshua Bell stretched rubber bands around the handles of his dresser drawers so that he could pluck out tunes like he'd heard his mother play on the piano. When his parents discovered what he'd done,...
Sending Missionaries to Iraq ‘Wrong Thing to Do,’ Kimball Says
Sending Christian missionaries into Iraq along with U.S. troops "was exactly the wrong thing to do," an expert on the Middle East and Christian/Jewish/Muslim relations said this week at a conference sponsored by the...