Here is a part of a piece posted last Monday at Patheos.com, which was also picked up by WaPo. But, I want to have a discussion about it here so I will spread it out over three days (MWF) on this blog to facilitate conversation on a variety of topics: Some are announcing the end of evangelicalism, like former evangelical and now anti-evangelical journalist, Christine Wicker. Others, like evangelical sociologist, Bradley Wright, describe a movement... Read more
Kenya’s Constitution and the Church A wide range of Christian churches in Kenya have issued a joint statement opposing Kenya’s proposed new Constitution, which is being voted on in a referendum on August 5. They argue that the new Constitution would expand abortion rights, and they oppose provisions that would allow Muslims to use khadi courts “for matters such as law relating to personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance in proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim religion... Read more
Our death morphs into his death Imagine how we’d feel if someone we loved was tried and found guilty of something we knew they didn’t do. Imagine now that we then learned that the prosecutors and the judges conspired together to have our friend killed. We’d be the first to stand up and say two things: “They committed an injustice,” and then second: “The leaders and judges deserve to die.” But the followers of Jesus turned everything inside out and... Read more
Just when I thought Chris Wright had just about said all he could say about God’s mission in this world, he comes out with a book that expands his work and extends into the more practical dimensions of mission. There’s always a little more to say about mission! Hence, his new book’s title: The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission (Biblical Theology for Life) . This book is in a new series of books from... Read more
I’ve been thinking about school starting up this year, and I’m reading about school in news stories, and we’ve heard of kids getting ready for school … and it made me think about our kids in Mabateneni, a small village in Swaziland where we support orphan kids. The needs, as you may know, are desperate but one thing we can do is offer help fund ministries like those of Hope Chest that work with orphans physically, economically, spiritually and educationally. ... Read more
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
Nathan Wigfield. Review of Sharon L. Baker, Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught About God’s Wrath and Judgment (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010). [This review was published at Nate Wigfield’s site originally.] I have to say that I am appreciative to Sharon Baker for requesting that an advance copy of her book, Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught about God’s Wrath and Judgment, be sent to me for review. My hope is that, in reading this review,... Read more
From Patheos by Hugh Hewitt: National Catholic Reporter’s long-time Vatican correspondent, John Allen, in his recently published The Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church, points to the rise of evangelical Catholicism. “The defining features of evangelical Catholicism are,” Allen summarizes, “a clear embrace of traditional Catholic thought, speech, and practice, the usual word for which is ‘orthodoxy’; eagerness to proclaim one’s Catholic identity to the world, emphasizing its implication for culture, society, and politics; faith seen as a matter of... Read more
Been to Chicago’s Bean? ANNOUNCEMENT: The Jesus Creed blog will be moving Sept 1 to Patheos. Stay tuned for more information and exact URL. Here is a great example of how Patheos is creating intelligent conversations about issues that matter to those of faith. Wonderful letter to Anne Rice from Karen. We are all fundamentalists about something. Chaplain Mike, who works with hospice ministries, speaks up about healthcare debates. What makes humans unique? Just before we left Ireland, Patrick Mitchel... Read more
The parables of Jesus summon us to the edge of the world in order to imagine a world that can only be called “kingdom.” In this world we have stereotypes, like the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14, after the jump). In this imagined stereotyped world the Pharisee is self-righteous, hypocritical, unloving, and conscious that God is on his side. In that world, too, is the tax collector who, knowing his low status in society and his own sins... Read more
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