The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the choking death of Eric Garner in Staten Island have dominated the news cycle for weeks, making it almost impossible to get any other issue onto the agenda. Immigration, Ebola and…
Peace on Facebook or Ferguson or Long Island or Cleveland
There’s a certain hollow and rather pernicious powerless-ness that wells up within me as I’ve quietly taken in the scenes, voices and verdicts (or, rather, lack thereof) unfolding before us all over the last couple of weeks. So much so,…
Christmas is where I believe again
Last year I realized that Christmas had become the crux of my faith. I was leading worship wondering if all this faith stuff was all it’s cracked up to be, and I found myself in a puddle of tears. I…
Why not a ‘pray-in?’
By Molly T. Marshall Follow Molly on Twitter @cbtskansas On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, members of different faith communities gathered early at an urban church to pray and converse about the strained…
Of lament, brutality, torture and Advent
I am almost overwhelmed with sorrow today. I do not wish to discuss how different groups on either side of the spectrum may, or may not, have made use of, or sought to make use of the events in Cleveland,…
Biblical backdrop to grand jury injustice
The grand jury decision not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the “choke-hold” death of Eric Garner has produced some interesting critics. According to the Washington Times website (12/1/14), Glenn Beck said that Garner’s treatment by the NYPD was “inexcusable,…
Thank God for music
By Doyle Sager I absolutely love Christmas music. As early as possible each year, I begin listening to it. In fact, I’ve decided that if merchants can begin airing holiday commercials on TV right after Halloween, I can start listening…
A failure of imagination on reading Scripture, part 1
God sure seems to get a bad rap sometimes, even from his followers. Well, that may go just a bit far. God’s word gets a bad rap much more frequently than he does. How should we handle this? How about…
Pastors, stop signing those marriage licenses
By Kyle Henderson Pastors should stop signing state-issued marriage licenses. They should stop immediately. Individuals and organizations whose agenda is murky at best are hijacking the marriage debate. We have stopped asking the right questions and started reacting to the…