From The Tennessean: When Pat Summitt announced in August of 2011 that she had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, the Tennessee women’s basketball coaching legend pointedly said, “It’s not going to keep me from living my life.” Her public battle with the brain disease ended Tuesday when Summitt died at age 64. She is survived by her son, Tyler. Tyler Summitt released the following statement Tuesday morning: “It is with tremendous sadness that I announce the passing of... Read more

When Fading Away Becomes “Done” By Michelle Van Loon, patheos.com/blogs/pilgrimsroadtrip, michellevanloon.com “Who will officiate at my funeral?” My friend Liz asked this question during a pause in our conversation earlier this week. “I don’t have a church these days.” Other important questions were bundled within her question: What have I gained by pouring myself into church for years? Where is my community now that I’m aging, divorced, and in poor health? Who will walk beside me during this stage of my life? I... Read more

By Charles Colton Allen, Biblical Studies Student and Student Fellow of the Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement at Liberty University, Member of Reformed Episcopal Church. @CCAllen27 The gospel should never be reduced to simply a message of personal salvation. Doing so leaves us with a malnourished understanding of the gospel. It is much more than a message of personal salvation, but this is not to say that personal salvation is not an important part of the gospel. Instead, personal... Read more

From Bruce Ellis Benson: Still, my question boils down to this: are evangelical colleges at risk of sliding from neo-evangelicalism to something like “neo-fundamentalism”? In other words, are evangelical colleges (or perhaps evangelicals in general) making a retreat from the world and embracing a new sort of solitude? Fundamentalism, as we noted, is not just about standing for the truth but doing so in a way in which one purposely separates oneself from the “world.” Here I should point out... Read more

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more

By Aimee Byrd: I don’t see how CBMW can move forward from this in a healthy way without cleaning house and publicly apologizing to those it has misled. How can CBMW speak to a culture with “widespread uncertainty and confusion in our culture regarding the complementary differences between masculinity and femininity” (from the first rationale in the Danvers Statement) when there is diverse teaching on both first order doctrine and complementary differences within their own council? And why should women... Read more

By John Frye: The second book in the 1980s that profoundly influenced me and my ministry is Eugene H. Peterson, Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. Think of all the phrases: paradigm shift, game changer, a new way of seeing, where have I been all my life. This little book literally overhauled my identity and vocation of pastor. I wrote about the transformative impact of Peterson’s book in my book Jesus the Pastor: Leading Others in the Character and Power... Read more

By Jamin Hübner at CBE: As many of you are aware, a particular debate involving the doctrine of the Trinity is causing no little stir in American evangelicalism. This past Thursday (June 16, 2016) Christianity Today even felt it necessary to write a primer on the discussion. Since my area and career focus is on systematic theology (and gender), I have watched with particular interest but have let others (more seasoned) do the “heavy-lifting.” I also happen to be the moderator... Read more

In popular imagination, even the imagination of of many trained in technical fields, evolution is a messy, chaotic, highly contingent and random process. Mark Whorton in Peril in Paradise comments that while he finds the evidence for an old earth convincing, the evidence for evolution is far less convincing. Most importantly, as a Christian he does not think that the origin and diversity of life is some lucky accident. Is the acceptance of evolution a commitment to contingent randomness? This... Read more