By Alan Rudnick As terrorist attacks impacted cities around the world like Paris and Beirut, we have learned that some of the terrorists falsely used refugee status to cross borders. As refugees continue to leave Syria in massive numbers, Republican…
Gold, frankincense and espresso
By Bill Leonard When the church’s Christmas witness wanes, let’s blame Starbucks. When our Advent hope falters, let’s fault the “war on Christmas.” When the “Gospel of Wealth” (Andrew Carnegie, 1889) fails to undergird our Bethlehem-borne faith, let’s whine about…
The story of the poor widow and giving, taxation and deep faith
By Chuck Queen What are we to make of the Gospel story of the poor widow who put in the temple treasury all she had to live on (Mark 12:41-44)? In the previous Markan paragraph Jesus denounces the self-righteousness of…
Looking for the ‘real’ Jesus
By Joe LaGuardia In the last 200 years of biblical research, scholars have outlined various “quests” for the historical Jesus. Each quest accompanies new insights into historical records and artifacts that emphasize some never-before-understood facet about Jesus of Nazareth. The…
10 not so good reasons for your congregation to affiliate with a denomination
By George Bullard You may have read my serious post responding to a real question from a real congregation where I provided 10 reasons for a non-denominational congregation to affiliate with a denomination. See it here. Now read my not-so-serious…
Love will conquer hate
By Amy Butler I recall the first time that I realized doctors did not know the solution to every medical problem. My thinking had been: when you have a scary, life threatening medical emergency, you go to see a medical…
Supergirl — or Relative-girl?
By Jonathan Waits So I’ve probably mentioned before that I’m a sucker for superhero fare. I don’t just go see all the movies, if possible; I buy a copy when they release them to the public. I have all the…
Looking for signs of the future
By Bill Prather This article is based on a Nov. 15 sermon from Mark 13:1-8, the Revised Common Lectionary text following the terrorist attacks in Paris. I have to confess that I’m not a big fan of disaster movies. I…
Cocoa butter advice
By Aileen Lawrimore In my family, we call it cocoa butter advice. It’s the advice that no one needs, but everyone offers. You know what I mean, right? It’s like when my sister suffered from a rare disorder called obstetric…
Answers that mean more death, only mean — more death
By Russ Dean So, what do we do when the world comes crashing down? When skyscrapers fall? When mad men appease their merciless god with fear and death, a bloody worship and the praise of a mother’s agonizing grief? Today…
Pastors leave congregations, but God’s vision never leaves
By George Bullard The idea of congregations expecting the next pastor to bring them vision implies some very important things about the ongoing understanding and practice of vision within congregations. First, it implies vision comes from the pastor. Second, it…
All I want for Christmas is rest
By Jayne Hugo Davis As we closed a committee meeting last week, I reminded the group that our next gathering would be our annual Christmas party. There was a collective gasp, but the calendar didn’t lie. Yet again, the days…