When the Book of Hebrews calls someone “God” to whom is the author referring? Is “God” always the “Father” so that one can equate God with Father in Hebrews? Or, do we need to query the text and its context to know Who is Who and to Whom the author is referring? (Yes.) In her sparkling essay, Amy Peeler (“What does ‘Father’ Mean? Trinity without Tiers in the Epistle to the Hebrews”) explains Hebrews’ theo-logy and contends the positions of... Read more

By John W Frye A series by John based on The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. “Even when Ruth does something remarkable and brave, evangelicals have tended to turn her story into a romance and Boaz into the hero who comes to her rescue. Nothing could be further from the truth” (Gospel of Ruth, 13). Ouch. I have to admit that romance story is the framework in which I have placed and preached Ruth’s story. The poor, beautiful... Read more

This is the next question addressed in Rebecca McLaughlin’s new book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. The question is reminiscent of the subtitle of Christopher Hitchen’s 2009 book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. There are many problems with the premise. The first and most important is that it groups all religions together under the same banner. The ills of one apply to all. This is like claiming that philosophy hinders morality without distinguishing... Read more

The subtitle of Frank G. Honeycutt’s new book is “Daily Habits for the Busy Preacher.” The book is called Sunday Comes Every Week. Honeycutt takes us through the pastor’s week as the pastor both pastors people and prepares for Sunday’s sermon. Monday is for listening, and Tuesday is for Hearing. Today is Tuesday. Today, he observes, is for hearing. Pastors often sigh; so did Jesus (Mark 7:34). Sighing is a form of prayer. Sighs often reveal one’s emotional state faster and... Read more

A wonderful piece by Brian Harris, with some very serious life style decisions implied. It’s often said that while we are a wealthy society, we are time poor. Now the first claim is undoubtedly true, but the second should have a serious question mark placed alongside it. Time poor – in comparison to who and when? Certainly not the ancient Hebrews. They worked a six day week from sunrise to sunset – on average a 72 hour working week. Indeed,... Read more

By Rachel Asproth On June 20, 2019 The evangelical purity movement of the 90s and early 2000s is a hot topic among Christians today. More and more women (and men) raised in purity culture are sharing their stories of trauma, dysfunction, and abuse. Born in 1992, I grew up during the shimmery golden age of the evangelical purity movement. Purity culture is a strange beast. Initially intent on constructing a helpful sexual ethic for Christians, it instead produced oddities like purity... Read more

Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­kindness; 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

Top of the morning, they say no where (at least not in Ireland). “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” By Jessie Pang and Marius Zaharia HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Christian hymn “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” has emerged as the unlikely anthem of Hong Kong’s protests against an extradition bill that have drawn millions of people onto the streets. Protests around the world often develop their own soundtrack, usually songs with lyrics of defiance and solidarity, aiming to keep crowds... Read more

Description: Addiction Nation (Conversation with Tim King) – KR 132 Scot and Tim discuss how a near-fatal illness led Tim’s doctors to prescribe narcotics where he ended up where millions of others have: addicted. Eventually, King learned to manage pain without opioids—but not before he began asking profound questions about the spiritual and moral nature of addiction, the companies complicit in creating the opioid epidemic, and the paths toward healing and recovery. Buy Tim’s book Addiction Nation here >>> amzn.to/31yGfEy Sign... Read more

By Mike Glenn When I was little, I thought God had computers. If God wanted it to rain in California, He would hit a few buttons and the radar would sweep across the scope bringing rain to California. In my little mind, this made perfect sense to me. Why? My dad taught radar systems in the Army and when he would take me to work with him we would go into a large room filled with computers and radar scopes.... Read more