Micah White of Occupy’s confession: You’ve gone from trying to look at the big picture, global “We are the 99 percent,” stop the money in politics, end corporate greed down to 280 people. Why go small? I think one of the things about being an activist is what you have to do is you have to first create a theory of social change and then also you have to test it out. Occupy Wall Street tested out a grand theory... Read more

I had the opportunity to speak on Sunday at a local church. The pastor is a friend I’ve known for years – since our kids were toddlers. The topic for the day was science and Christian faith. What does it mean to be a believing scientist, and to stay a believing scientist?  After all, there is a common idea in our culture that science and Christian faith are locked in conflict. We can embrace one or the other, not both.... Read more

Just War & Pacifism: A Truce, by Austin Fischer SMcK: One of the great testing grounds for one’s approach to Christian ethics is war: How should Christians participate? Should Christians participate? It is a sad reality that many American Christians don’t bother to think about such a topic and as a result think military actions are entirely justifiable because the nation-state has decided so. But where does Christian thinking come into play in instinctive nationalism or patriotism? Are Jesus and... Read more

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By Justin Taylor, who is more and more developing his hand at the history of American evangelicalism: A recent Washington Post profile of Vice President Mike Pence quoted a 2012 piece which said “he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife.” Not surprisingly, revelation of this practice was met with a fair bit of mockery and criticism online. It is well known that Billy Graham established a rule like this, one that he and his friends worked on together, and here’s... Read more

One of the summary beliefs of the Reformation is “by faith alone” (sola fide). So Matthew Bates (Salvation by Allegiance Alone) proposes that the meaning of “faith” in “faith” alone is more than cognitive agreement and more than cognitive agreement with existential trust in Christ alone (another summary belief). He says, No, the meaning of the word faith is “allegiance.” Up go the hands from the right to the left in the room: How much allegiance is required? Grace-ists, who want to... Read more

Mimi’s post, originally at Missio Alliance, illustrates how the term “complementarian” has a history. It was originally the term used by what is now called egalitarians; thus, they were complementarian without hierarchy. The term as used by complementarians is not so much complementarian but hierarchical in primary connotation with distinction of roles. What did women do? is a question I ask in Blue Parakeet, and I happily commend the work of Mimi Haddad all the time. Mimi Haddad is President of... Read more

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more

Stewart Mandel: On May 20, 2015, the NCAA’s vice president for enforcement sent North Carolina a letter alleging lack of institutional control by the university for providing athletes special access to fraudulent African Studies courses. It noted that the practice continued unchecked for 18 years, “particularly in the sports of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.” Ordinarily, that Notice of Allegations would have led to a Committee on Infractions hearing, and, a few months later, sanctions. Nearly two years later,... Read more

Jason Micheli is the author of Cancer is Funny: Keeping Faith in Stage Serious Chemo. He’s a United Methodist in Alexandria, Va, blogs at www.tamedcynic.org, and hosts the Crackers and Grape Juice Podcast.  How Resident Aliens Live: Or, the Fitch Option David Fitch’s Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines that Shape the Church for Mission On Ash Wednesday I suffered my monthly battery of labs and oncological consultation in advance of my day of maintenance chemo. During the consult, after feeling me up... Read more