By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor On a bright spring day in 2007, a black-robed Herman Cain officiated the wedding of a young couple at a mansion outside of Atlanta. The sun sparkled on the pair’s wedding rings as Cain, an associate minister at a nearby church, held them aloft. All seemed perfect.When it came time for the bride and groom to exchange vows, however, Cain was dissatisfied with the volume of the groom’s “I do.”“Say it louder,” Cain... Read more

by Cora Jackson-Fossett forLos Angeles Sentinel  [email protected] As Christian hip hop gains momentum, recording artist Lecrae has emerged as a leader in the field. His 2010 album, ‘Rehab,’ garnered a Grammy nomination and his latest project, ‘Rehab Deluxe,’ is on track to repeat that success. His new record combines past work of Lecrae with tracks completed earlier this year. Both albums point to Christ as the answer to relieve hurt and pain. “This album, ‘Rehab Deluxe,’ tries to articulate that... Read more

Memphis Theological Seminary will start a new certificate program in February 2012. Named after longtime Memphis pastor, Rev. Dr. James L. Netters, the seminary designed the Netters Certificate in Ministry for persons already active in ministry who are looking for ways to deepen and/or refresh their practice of ministry. Through six courses, participants in this program will develop knowledge and skills in biblical interpretation, relationships between churches, the development of biblical theology, preaching, theology and practice of varieties of ministry, and the... Read more

“Know thyself.” -Aristotle “Meditating on the lotus of your heart, in the center is the untainted; the exquisitely pure, clear, and sorrowless; the inconceivable; the unmanifest, of infinite form; blissful, tranquil, immortal; the womb of Brahma.” -Kaivalyopanishad “Who am I? What is this body I am in? Where do my thoughts come from? What is the mind? Why do I feel something in my heart? What attracts me to things and creates emotions of like and dislike? What is the... Read more

Thomas L. Day wrote a fascinating post about the Penn State debacle for Washington Post‘s On Faith blog. The post begins… I’m 31, an Iraq war veteran, a Penn State graduate, a Catholic, a native of State College, acquaintance of Jerry Sandusky’s, and a product of his Second Mile foundation. And I have fully lost faith in the leadership of my parents’ generation. Mr. Day goes on to write: One thing I know for certain: A leader must emerge from Happy Valley... Read more

Recently I’ve been delving once again into deism, or what is more appropriately called natural religion.  (Deism has come to have connotations of belief in a distant, uninvolved and even uncaring God.  That wasn’t true of all who are lumped together as deists and the real sine qua non of “deism” was belief in natural religion, not a doctrine of God.)  I’ve been re-reading Locke (a precursor), Toland and Tindal (among others).  These men thought they were Christians.  Well, there’s... Read more

Dr. Andre E. Johnson,  will present his award winning paper, “The Prophetic Persona of James Cone and the Rhetorical Theology of Black Theology” at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association. The Association will hold its meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana from November 16-20. In addition to the Cone paper, Dr. Johnson will also present three others papers; “Prophetic Rhetoric as Religious Communication,” The Call for a Hip Hop Spirituality,” and “Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and the Prophetic Tradition.”... Read more

Here are some thoughts I had the other day about capitalism, socialism and politics.(And I’m an idiot for even trying to share some of this stuff in the current political climate. Somebody, please, take this keyboard away from me.) I don’t think we can ever escape sin. Consequently, I think every economic system is going to have sinful aspects to it. Capitalism is no exception. But one of the interesting features of capitalism is how it harnesses sin for the... Read more

By Emily Heath The Huffington Post When news of Jerry Sandusky’s indictment came down I learned for the first time that the name of the charity he had founded to help boys and young men in need of support, the same one he allegedly used to find his victims, was the Second Mile. I was immediately struck by the irony. The Second Mile takes its name from a parable told by Jesus. (You know, the same guy who said of... Read more

The mood among many U.S. Roman Catholic bishops was captured in a recent speech by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. His talk, called “Catholics in the Next America,” painted a bleak picture of a nation increasingly intolerant of Christianity. “The America emerging in the next several decades is likely to be much less friendly to Christian faith than anything in our country’s past,” Chaput told students last week at Assumption College, an Augustinian school in Worcester, Mass. “It’s not a... Read more