Our times call for fresh thinking on the economics of ministry, which is a constellation of issues. Educational debt, ministry compensation, rising health care costs, diminished congregations and a culture of credit all conspire to make the question “can the church and the ministry afford each other” more challenging.
Ecumenical musings: What does it mean for ‘all of us’ to be here?
If we are separated into isolated denominational enclaves, are we in fact “all there”? If not, how do we change this situation and move toward such unity?
‘The Cross and the Lynching Tree’: A broken gospel
It was a killing field, and accounts of those brutal murders make for heart-rending but necessary reading.
Are you ready for an evangelism upgrade?
Scripture tells us always to be ready when someone asks about the hope within us. The greatest indictment of today’s evangelism may be that hardly anyone is asking.
Love ’em, hate ’em, eat ’em: The complicated relationship between humans and animals
Expect the future to bring an intensifying and polarizing acceleration on all fronts of those human-animal relationships.
The economics of belief: Does morality come down to nothing more than, ‘Can we afford it’?
Our ability “to afford” is a moral compass we use to navigate an incredibly complex milieu of decisions. Affordability isn’t just a component of our moral decision making; it has become the very whole of our morality.
The Peterson dilemma: When do the questions of ‘now’ demand revisiting the answers of ‘then’?
The kerfuffle over Jonathan Merritt’s phone interview with Eugene Peterson was predictable. The back-and-forth, including threats of recrimination from the likes of LifeWay, followed by an apparent stream of retractions from Peterson only muddled the core issue.
Opioid abuse is a tragedy, crack cocaine use is a crime. Why?
Maybe our more usual careless naiveté about the similarities in the addictions and the differences in our response is a symptom of an even more insidious sickness.
Beware these four kinds of spiritual sickness in the church
Most churches do a decent job responding to physical illness by visiting the hospital, bringing casseroles and praying. But few churches know what to do about spiritual sickness, when neither a hospital visit nor a casserole fills the bill.
Letters to the Editor
The latest from our readers: That intriguing St. Augustine quote, by Robert Nystrom
The irony of being told you aren’t invited or welcome at a celebrating cooperation banquet
God is waiting outside the banquet hall to catch the poor soul who is about to be thrown out for being so real and refusing to play the game. God is waiting for the brave souls that refuse to put on the costumes that hide who they truly are.
The Scopes Monkey Trial and global warming: Same playbook, different football
It’s been nearly a hundred years since The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, but for many, science (or the Bible — depending on your perspective) remain on trial.