By Allan Bevere: The God of Christmas Is an Embarrassment Christmas is proof that God will stoop as low as is necessary… and I mean really low… to get what God wants. In Jesus Christ, God has come into the muck and the mire of the human situation to roll around in the dirt with us humans in order to rescue us from the muck and the mire. Instead of coming into this world in the royal garb worn only... Read more

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. Isa 9:2-7 The people who walked in darkness have seen... Read more

Roberto Ferdman: There is naturally little sympathy for the plight of top-tier college students who lose sleep over the authenticity of their bottomless buffets. But there also seems to be very little public concern for an actual, real, non-politically correct problem with college campus cafeterias that fewer people are paying attention to: waste. “Hopefully, if you dined with us in Stevenson [Dining Hall], there would be one thing in every meal that you would want to eat,” Michile Gross, the director of business operations and dining... Read more

Suddenly some Christian leaders began talking about “incarnation” and “incarnational” but the terms were referring not to God Incarnate, that is, God-becoming-body-and-flesh-and-blood, but instead of Christians and churches having an incarnational approach instead of an attractional approach. Then “incarnational” folks got tied to “missional” so that incarnational and missional mean much the same to many. But do they? My colleagues, David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw, dip into this “incarnation” discussion their 3d Signpost in their new book, Prodigal Christianity. To review,... Read more

One of the new buzzwords for ministry models is “incarnation” and various leaders now speak about “incarnational ministry.” But Andrew Root, in Relational Ministry, contends when “incarnation” becomes a strategy, a ministry model, something to be done or enacted, incarnation loses its meaning and ministry becomes a means to accomplishing our own interests. Root’s contention deserves our attention. What do you think of his reshaping of what “incarnational ministry” means?  Maybe this set of lines illustrates the problem. This is... Read more

The Incarnation of God in Christ has become fashionable. Not only does it mean God has taken up our case by becoming what we are, but it has also reached into a “theology of creation” — or the excellence of creation and the justification of life in this world. A recent example of probing Incarnation can be found in the mesmerizing book by Christian Wiman called My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer. Wiman’s approach is not from or... Read more

Emma Brown: School districts don’t usually operate homeless shelters for their students. Nor do they often run food banks or have a system in place to provide whatever clothes kids need. Few offer regular access to pediatricians and mental health counselors, or make washers and dryers available to families desperate to get clean. But the Jennings School District — serving about 3,000 students in a low-income, predominantly African American jurisdiction just north of St. Louis — does all of these... Read more

By Bronwen Speedie is the founder of the Western Australian-based ministry, God’s Design-Perth, which seeks to bring clarity, healing, and encouragement through the biblical message of the equality of men and women. She is the author of a Bible study and resource kit about biblical equality titled, Men and Women: God’s Design. While writing, working full time as a chaplain, and parenting keep her busy, Bronwen says life goes better when she makes time to sing, whether in her choir or singing loud... Read more

I am often asked “What is an Anabaptist?” and “Who are the Anabaptists?” If one listened to everyone who claimed an anabaptist connection, it would be easy to be confused. So today I want to sketch the view of the one description of Anabaptism that shaped the 20th Century the most. I refer to Harold S. Bender‘s classic essay called The Anabaptist Vision. No, it is not true that all Anabaptists agree with Bender, and No, some today (like Thomas... Read more

By Sara Barton, chaplain at Pepperdine University. A Refugee Baby Stories about suffering babies tear at our hearts. Consider a sampling of such stories in the headlines this year: A dead refugee child on a beach in Turkey. [1] A sick child in an immigrant detention center without proper medical care. [2] A newborn deserted in the crevice of a bike path in Compton, California. [3] Another abandoned in the manger of a nativity scene in New York. [4] The... Read more