Males and females, a body for each. Male and female hair, a style for each. Male and female clothing, a style for each. Transgress the body, the hair or the clothing and shame results; maintain the body, the hair and the clothing, and honor results. The history of the church reveals a correlation with the above observations and what is seen as standard, traditional or appropriate for women and for men, but especially for women. Their bodies, their hair, and... Read more
Almighty and everlasting God, You have given to us your servants grace, By the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, And in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, And bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; Who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, One God, for ever and ever.... Read more
Diaa Hadid: UMM AL-HIRAN, Israel — Salim al-Qian settled back on his white faux leather couch strewn with pink cushions and took a sip of tea, clearly comfortable in his tiny home in this ramshackle hamlet in the dusty hills of southern Israel. The sense of permanence suggested by his comfort, however, looks to be short-lived. Mr. Qian and the other members of some 70 Bedouin families are likely to be evicted soon from their homes in the hamlet of Umm... Read more
Arrivederci Assisi! Good students: BETHLEHEM, N.H. —The graduating class at Profile Junior-Senior High School in Bethlehem made a heartfelt decision to give the money raised for their senior class trip to the school’s principal, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Principal Courtney Vashaw said they work hard to teach the students about caring for others and being compassionate, but not in her wildest dreams did she think that lesson would directly affect her. “We decided to not go on our... Read more
If when you read “sloth”you thought “lazy”(as most of us do), then you tipped your hand that you hold a shallow view of this capital vice, this deadly sin. We’ve been conditioned in the West by an out of control “Protestant work ethic”which shouts “Busyness is next to godliness.”Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung blasts our superficial view of sloth and drives us to the core sin: sloth is a failure of love. Huh? DeYoung notes that if sloth were the original sin,... Read more
Today I want to conclude this brief series on Dallas Willard’s view of apologetics in his new book, The Allure of Gentleness. And this means some random topics at work in this fine new book. First, the disconnect between some who believe in Jesus but not God. Many Christians, in their heart of hearts, also believe that their faith is just another superstition. They really do. That is why I often say that I know many people who believe in Jesus,... Read more
By Donald Nwankwo, newly ordained Deacon in the Anglican Church. “I don’t live by faith. I live smart,” I overheard someone say in a group conversation. I recently heard someone else comment on a TV show: “I wonder why Christians choose to live by a book written thousands of years ago. They need to get real with the times!” Have you come to wonder why, in some circles, a scientist’s professional commentary might be suspect simply on grounds of having... Read more
Ed Stetzer had an interesting post on his blog last week – 3 reasons for Christians to Engage in Science. This post is a reprint of an essay he wrote for a small booklet recently released by the National Association of Evangelicals: When God and Science Meet and available for free download. The booklet includes essays by John Ortberg, Mark Noll, Christopher Wright and more. Stetzer’s three reasons (read his essay on his blog or in the booklet for his... Read more
From A Fellowship of Differents. Imagine you are in Corinth, and imagine you are an Anglican type gathered in Fortunatus’s house church fellowship, when someone brings in Paul’s first letter to the church. Someone stands to read the whole thing. All kinds of problems are addressed and Paul’s got reasons for everything he says, so it will be a long evening before it is time to go home. Finally we get to the last chapter (though there were no chapters in... Read more
Roberto A. Ferdman: Not long ago, chances were that any given honey jar sitting on a table or tucked away in a pantry here in the United States was locally produced. Now, after what has been a decidedly disastrous decade for the bee industry, that couldn’t be any less true. “We’ve lost a lot of bees here in the U.S.,” said Mark Jensen, a beekeeper from Montana who serves as the legislative chairman of the American Honey Producers Association. “And it’s really... Read more
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