Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Faithful Television: An Interview With Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson is co-creator of PAX TV's "Doc" and "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye," which consistently vie for the network's top spot. Even Jerry Seinfeld has said dirty jokes are easier, so those who make a living out of clean...
Paul Tillich: A Struggle for Authentic Faith
Tillich was one of the giants of 20th-century Protestant theology. The bulk of his work was directed toward constructing a thoroughly modern theology that could stand before the intellectual rigors of philosophy and...
Ted Turner Talks About His Faith
Throughout the half hour we spent with TIME magazine's 1991 man of the year, Turner repeatedly talked about religious belief: how he lost it, how it appears in the new movie, what he thinks about it. Turner quickly...
Find Course Between Impatience and Passivity
The other threat to patience is the tyranny of time. We want to get a thing done and settled, so we can get on to other important matters. Fleeing passivity, we embrace impatience. The rural folk of West Alabama are...
Take Advantage of Ministry’s ‘Interim Season’
During an interim season, the current staff will have additional "interim" assignments, and quite often an interim minister will join the ministry team and help guide the church through the transitional season. Most of...
Barna: Little Evidence for Changed Church, Believers
Despite speculation by many Americans that religion is changing in America, recent Barna research indicated that the church remains relatively unchanged in the past decade. Church attendance, Bible reading and belief...
What’s Wrong With War
People give a number of reasons for opposing war with Iraq: We should not go to war without the United Nations' backing. We need to wait longer for the weapons inspectors to finish their job. The Bush administration...
Habitual Drunk Drivers Pose Serious Threat
Think drunk drivers can't strike again? Think again. Habitual drunk drivers make up about 40 percent of all drunk driving trips, according to AAA. In a release on its Web site, AAA stated that research by its...
Caring for Souls in a Time of Stress
Now that anxiety has eased like a fog into every corner of our society, pastors sense the added pressure of their spiritual work. And now that anxiety has eased like a fog into every corner of our society, they sense...
Silver Screen, Sacred Story: The Use of Multimedia in Worship
Anyone who plans or thinks about worship on a regular basis will likely pause at the title of Michael Bausch's book Silver Screen, Sacred Story: The Use of Multimedia in Worship. The title raises an issue that has...
Forgive Us Our Debts
It seems particularly cruel to charge exorbitant fees to families and individuals already struggling financially. The Bible pronounces stern judgment on those who exploit the poor for profit. That same judgment falls...
Confucius Offered Vision for Social Harmony
He was a wandering teacher largely unappreciated in his own time. He was a failure as a politician. Yet his teachings became the foundation of an ethical philosophy, a religion and a culture. His name is K'ung Fu-tzu,...
Love at First Write
I don't suppose it really matters how love begins. What matters is whether the commitment to love another is genuine enough and deep enough to forsake all others, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in...
Who Will Stand Alone When the Circle Leaves Room for 1?
Years ago, before the Baptist battles escalated, a seminary professor described a crucial weakness of fundamentalism: By its nature, fundamentalism opposes. It fights against everything that doesn't conform to its...
Reading Aloud to Other Daddies’ Children
Millions of adults who long ago passed the sixth grade nonetheless will go back to elementary school on March 3. That is just one day past Dr. Seuss' birthday, and it marks the sixth annual Read Across America. RAA Day...
Maine Fights Obesity With Legislation
With nearly 65 percent of Americans either overweight or obese, the state of Maine is tired of waiting around for its residents to shape up. They are going to make fighting obesity a matter of law. Maine lawmakers...
Lost and Found: Adolescence, Parenting, and the Formation of Faith
Amanda Millay Hughes, respected Episcopal lecturer and author, brings a poignant insight into adolescence through her own eyes as mother, mentor and educator. She takes the reader on a rapid journey of true stories,...
“Gods and Generals”
The stage for war is set, and the bullets—and prayers—start flying. That's right: "Gods and Generals" features more divine petitioning than any Hollywood product in recent memory. Clocking in at over 3 ½ hours, the new...
Astronauts’ Song Choices Tell Story
We grieve the loss of these seven men and women. Though their loss is profound, we lose people around us everyday. One day, this world will claim us. What then? What song will people remember that we have sung? What...
“Daredevil”
"Daredevil" is good, but not great. For comics fans, it will be hailed as a wonderful realization. But for others, it may seem to be just another guy in a leather suit beating people up. The movie is about a blind...
Rediscover the Revelation
The Revelation is one of the most relevant books in the Bible, especially if it is received as a book of encouragement or a book of worship. That's right! Encouragement and worship. Those seem to be the overarching...