From CBE By Tami Zacharias On April 25, 2019 Women in Leadership I grew up in a small, middle-class, mostly mono-cultural community of white Mennonites. In school, I almost always found it easy to achieve success. I generally had access to good schools and attentive teachers, and my parents spent quite a bit of time educating me informally at home. I set high standards for myself and had high expectations of others. I truly believed that others could do better if… Read more

Daniel Harrell wraps up his book, Nature’s Witness: How Evolution Can Inspire Faith, with a reflection and a perspective that I don’t think we consider seriously enough. Christians have always believed all truth to be God’s truth, implying that science and faith, despite differences when it comes to explaining why, nevertheless should agree in regard to what. … Science matters whether we care about it or not. And because science matters, it warrants theological reflection. (p. 137) Because science matters,… Read more

Julie Close I live in Flushing, Michigan I’m the Director of Finance & Marketing (for a small consumer research/marketing company.) I haven’t written a book. Yet. I haven’t recorded an album. Yet. 😉 My journey to seminary began years ago, but happened in a moment. I’m a learner. I’ve wanted to go to seminary for a long time, but it just didn’t seem possible. I have a job here in Michigan. I’m married to a pastor. We’ve been in ministry… Read more

Description: Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Part 5 – Paul) – KR 127 How did Paul interact with Judaism? Does our definition of gospel fit within how Paul understood the gospel? Scot dissects these answers these questions and more from the last section of E.P. Sanders’ book. Most of Sanders’ book breaks down the false assumptions of Judaism that have tainted understanding Paul in his context. This section takes all the insightful information about 1st Century Judaism and draws helpful insights… Read more

The more a man dies to himself, the more he begins to live unto God — Thomas a Kempis By: Steve Cuss, author of Managing Leadership Anxiety I think one of the reasons we struggle to grow deeper with God is because we are unaware of anxiety’s grip. Anxiety competes for the space in which God resides – it blocks our awareness of God and shrinks our capacity to be fully present with each other. Anxiety comes in all manner of… Read more

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; 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

Kris and I greet you from Greece, where we are on a short study break on the island of Naxos. During the week we will post some pictures. Thanks this week to JS for links. Congrats to pastor (and, yes, Northern grad, Tyone Hughes for inclusion in this wonderful picture of leaders. (Outlined in Carolina blue.) Helping kids (and others) to become critical thinkers: How can we encourage kids to think critically from an early age? Through an activity that… Read more

By Mike Glenn If you think about God long enough, sooner or later, you get to a point when your eyes go crossed, smoke comes out of your ears and your brain circuits are fried. This happens to me when I think about God and time. Time is an artificial construction. Time doesn’t happen in nature. Seasons do, but time doesn’t. We impose time on nature. That’s why we end up with an extra day every four years. Our concept… Read more

Sometimes St. Augustine makes my head ache. He is fascinating, faithful, and far from perfect. His literal interpretation of Genesis is not really what we would term literal in the modern sense. Craig Allert, in Chapter 7 of Early Christian Readings of Genesis One: Patristic Exegesis and Literal Interpretation digs into Augustine and his writings on the days of Genesis 1. To begin to understand Augustine it is necessary to look at his view of time and its relationship to… Read more