It is difficult to measure the significance of a life and even harder to measure it at a distance. Alongside Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was obviously a central figure in ending apartheid in his native South Africa and a unique voice in healing differences between rival factions following the election of 1994. But it will take some time to fully grasp the impact of his ministry both in South Africa and around the world as a voice for... Read more
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God,... Read more
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name... Read more
As Christmas approaches many of us will be grappling with the loss of those we love. And the holiday celebrations will lend a particular poignancy to those losses. There will be people missing from the pews alongside us as we worship. There will be empty chairs at the dinner table. Family rituals, familiar topics of conversation, and endearing behaviors will be missing from the fabric from our celebration. Such experiences have an irreducibly autobiographical character to them. While we can... Read more
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear... Read more
I doubt that any of us watched the news without being shaken by the pictures of devastation across Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Towns were shattered. Over two hundred miles of countryside were raked clean by just one of the tornados. And it is still impossible to know how many people lost their lives in a storm caught people unprepared and unprotected. Years of recovery work lie ahead of the more immediate task of attending to the dead... Read more
It appears that the world will be spared experimentation with the exterior of Notre Dame Cathedral. The French government caved to the outrage expressed by the citizens of Paris, and it will be restored to its former glory. But Christians can’t hope that the sacred space within the Cathedral will be treated with the same care. The current proposal for the restoration of the Cathedral’s interior marks a radical departure from the one lost in the fire. Confessionals, altars in... Read more
Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:27-8 Recently I had a conversation with an old friend. We’ve had the same conversation over the years, and it always revolves around the same issue. He goes to church from time to time, but he just can’t bring himself to believe... Read more
First posted in 2017: Sometime ago I watched the film, “Shenandoah.” James Stewart plays Charlie Anderson, a Virginia farmer who becomes embroiled unwillingly in the mayhem of the War Between the States. His family gathers at the dinner table, and Anderson prays, “Lord, we cleared this land. We ploughed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be eating it, if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog bone-hard for every... Read more
There have been countless articles and reflections on the meltdown at Mars Hill. Christianity Today featured a podcast which was one of the lengthier meditations on that story, but there were others worth reading (among them, read here and here). Both the massive popularity and the spectacular failure of that ministry justifies attention, even in parts of the church that are far from the non-denom world. There is no need to cover the same territory discussed elsewhere. But there a... Read more
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