What happens when we die? Death and the afterlife remain two of the biggest mysteries in life because answers about them depend on the ultimate mystery – whether or not a Supreme Being exists. None of us, not even the most devout Christians, can answer even basic questions about God with total certainty. Our beliefs are based on faith. Christian beliefs about death and the afterlife are not easily explained to non-Christians because the three major branches of Christianity –... Read more
Sadly, We Do & We’re Killing Our Religion Because of It Why Are Christians So Mean?…. The headline on a post by Christian author, teacher and blogger Jeremy Myers recently caught my attention. Myers says that Christians behave badly. Are we as mean and badly behaved as he believes? We can be and often are, and therein lies the problem. “Christians are notorious for bad behavior,” according to Myers. “In some recent surveys (reported in books like Unchristian and They... Read more
Sunday, July 23 is Parents’ Day – the perfect time for us to step back in time for a virtual visit to early 18th century England. There, we will meet an amazing mother of 10 who successfully guided her children’s lives in Christ and helped shape modern-day Christianity. How did Susanna do it? Let’s meet her and see. Our visit takes us to the rectory in a small rural town called Epworth, which is located in northeast Lincolnshire. Being... Read more
Would you willingly give up your life for someone or something? Perhaps your child? Maybe your spouse? What about your best friend or a close relative? Would you sacrifice your life for your Christian faith? Think about it for a moment, and then think about Christ’s disciples and some of his other followers like John the Baptist. Quite a few of them became martyrs for their Christian faith. And people are still martyred in modern times. Martyrdom was all too... Read more
A Critical Debate for America Before there were founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution — all of which come to mind as we celebrate July 4th — there were religious pilgrims who sought religious freedom in the New World. American school children learn about the English pilgrims who sailed aboard the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. But I’m not talking about those religious pilgrims today. I’m talking about lesser-known French Huguenots who fled... Read more
Yoga is gaining millions of adherents in the U.S. It tones and relaxes the body and soothes the mind at the end a stressful day, but it also has deep roots in Eastern religion. Thus, some Christians wholeheartedly embrace yoga, others totally reject it and still others hesitate. Should Christians practice yoga? they ask. One proponent of yoga for Christians is Michelle A. Thielen, an author and founder of YogaFaith. She notes that yoga “encompasses the whole self: mind, body,... Read more
“Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed would be thy name….” So begins the greatest prayer in Christendom. Different Protestant traditions view the Lord’s prayer in different ways. Some feel it’s too “Catholic” and rarely say it in church. Others routinely pray it during Sunday School and morning services, as my church does. Patheos contributor Keith Giles, a former pastor, says in his post “Uncovering Hidden Secrets of the Lord’s Prayer” that “Christians have a unique problem. We know some... Read more
Does Equality Really Exist Among Us? White Americans have wielded a great deal of political, economic and social power for centuries, but the nation is changing. As we become increasingly diverse, more and more minorities are moving into leadership roles. In politics, for example, the U.S. elected its first biracial president in 2008, and the current Congress has more women, people of color and openly gay members than it’s ever had, says the Pew Research Center. But at the same... Read more
Americans are behind the times when it comes to Father’s Day. We didn’t designate a holiday to honor fathers and father figures until the early 1970s because, in part, American fathers didn’t want one. Why on earth did the idea of Father’s Day initially cause controversy in the United States? We’ll get to the reasons in a moment. But keep in mind that the idea of honoring fathers dates back several centuries and is deeply steeped in church... Read more
The Answer Is a Definite ‘Maybe’ & Here’s Why… The New Testament says very little about Jesus’ biological family, leaving various Christian traditions to fill in the blanks in a variety of ways. We cannot definitely answer the question, “Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?” because the Bible teases us with possibilities rather than giving us concrete facts. Biblical writers use words that are open to interpretation and then turn their attention to more important questions about faith, salvation and... Read more
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