By Mike Glenn Speaking the Truth in Love Means We Don’t Give Up On any given Sunday, I might mention to the congregation to be gracious to each other because we never know the heart ache that might be seated on the pew with us. Everyone who walks into a church on any given Sunday typically walks in with a load of care. There’s a couple who is trying to think about how to tell their children they’re getting a… Read more

When I started this series on creation care I received an e-mail questioning the wisdom of diving into the topic. For many creation care is synonymous with climate change or global warming. This is a political hot potato. Unlike evolution, where we evaluate evidence in existence and consider physical models to interpret the data, the concern with climate change rests substantially on extrapolation into the future. Our models are improving, but far from perfect. This makes extrapolation somewhat risky. Of… Read more

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