I am a sucker for a free book. I’ll admit it. If you click on the sidebar of this blog and look at my “categories” column, you’ll see that I’ve got a long-standing habit of reviewing books in order to feed my free book habit. (You might be wondering if I’ve ever heard of a place called a library where I can get all the free books I want. Yes, I’ve heard of it, and the town in which I... Read more
Lime mayonaise, pinto beans, tinned anchovies, oatmeal and one antique frozen chicken breast are the extent of the ingredients in my house. It’s been an action-packed week. I haven’t been to the grocery store in…um…. Yeah. It’s been a while. I could order a pizza, but the thought of spending $17 for a lukewarm pizza in a damp cardboard box didn’t do a thing for me. I am a regular watcher of Chopped, the Food Network show where professional chefs are... Read more
If you’re a woman living in the Chicago or Milwaukee area, watch this space for information about an upcoming guided silent retreat slated for the end of September. I’ll have an official flyer available after the 4th, but thought I’d give you a sneak peek today. Date: Friday, September 27–Saturday, September 28 Place: Bishop Lane Retreat Center, Rockford, IL. Each retreatant will have her own room and bathroom in this facility. Cost: (still working on it – stay tuned). Facilitators:... Read more
When I used to hear Christian speakers glibly toss out statements like, “The Church has replaced Israel” as if they were chucking an empty fast food bag into the trash, I would inwardly cringe, but didn’t always have the opportunity to challenge the speaker. The last time I checked, leaping onto a chair in the middle of a church service, calling a foul and diving into a theological debate was not socially acceptable. I’m glad to know that Jesus himself... Read more
MTV’s Teen Mom ran for four seasons, was known for hyped-for-the-camera drama, occasional off-camera tabloid headlines featuring some of the program’s stars, and for giving some of the show’s viewers a wake-up call salacious glimpse at what young women and men (and their babies) face when they become parents too soon. The reality show was not a public service announcement, however. The key piece of reality is that the show was created as entertainment, sold to advertisers and consumed by viewers.... Read more
“Heterosexuality will not get you into heaven.” – Pastor Tim Keller (HT Katelyn Beaty) Yesterday’s apology from Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, followed by the announcement that the organization would shut down, has sparked emotional reaction from many quarters. Google the story if you’re looking for a sampling of what people are saying today. I don’t want to add lots more words to this conversation, but I do want to make a few quick observations for those of... Read more
Though the surfacing of regret is certainly not limited to one particular age group, it is a mile marker that often signals that we’ve passed a spiritual halfway point in our life’s one-way journey and, to hijack a familiar metaphor, there really are no U-turns allowed. Those who follow Christ trust that his life, death and resurrection saves us from our sins—the ultimate U-turn, if you will—but he often uses the consequences of those sins as refining tools in our... Read more
When it comes to guidance for mentoring relationships among Christian women, it seems there’s only one place to go: Titus 2. I wonder if the Apostle Paul imagined his instructions on transmitting faith to the next generation would become a checklist for church mentorship in the 21st-century, as women try to teach others “to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that... Read more
One of the benefits of being a member of an online community like Patheos is that it gives us a chance to exchange ideas about faith, culture and more. Though most of us write collegially, side-by-virtual-side, we have occasional opportunities to interact with one another and with the diverse readers who visit the site. Patheos blogger have been invited to share our responses to one or any of the questions on this month’s “What Do I Really Believe?” landing page.... Read more
Should you stay or should you go? Besides being a riff on the title of one of the great pop-punk songs of the early 1980’s, it is a question with which congregants whose leaders have had moral failures by their leaders must grapple. Whether it is the stuff that grabs headlines (like the Sovereign Grace Ministries lawsuit or the sexual misconduct charges filed against leaders Virginia’s Richmond Outreach Center) or the kinds of things that spur gossip in a local community... Read more
Pilgrim's Road Trip
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