By Scott Dickison My wife and I recently received a note from the church where our 1-year-old son is enrolled in a Mother’s Morning Out program encouraging parents not to dress the children in Halloween-themed attire. Guess he will just…
Dying well, part 1
Do you want to die well? Do you want to die with dignity? I suspect that desire resides in the hearts of just about everyone. But, what does it really mean to die well? I’ll admit, at 32 and healthy,…
A dual-narrative tour: The LGBT issue, part 16
By David Gushee Follow David:@dpgushee Decades ago, theologian H.R. Niebuhr wrote that the first question of ethics is not “what should I do?” but “what is going on here?” He was on to something. So — what is in fact going on…
Everyone needs to go to Arabia
By Bill Wilson One of the pressing concerns of 21st-century individual and congregational spiritual life is the question of depth. To be blunt, there isn’t much. Study after study has revealed the sad truth that much of what we call…
3 Leadership lessons from Mark Driscoll
Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll announced he resigned as the senior pastor of 13,000 person Mars Hill Church. This announcement comes after months of a leave of absence and years of controversy. Driscoll’s rise to fame in the Christian world has…
What our languages are telling us
By John Chandler Language creates culture. What we say, and how we say it, not only reflects who we are but also shapes what we will become. With that in mind, we can forecast where the world is heading by…
‘Fury,’ an enlightening war movie not for the faint of heart
By Mike Parnell Some of my favorite movies are war movies. From “Patton” to “MASH,” “The Great Escape” to “Kelly’s Heroes,” war movies made up a huge part of my early life. Being a child of the ‘60s, we would…
My favorite religious films
By religious, I mean movies about faith, not necessarily Christian or so-called family values. Sometimes, the movies ask tough questions. They are not always inspirational. I have never particularly liked movies about Jesus, because, in my opinion, no movie even…
Lost in the wilds of South America
By Brett Younger One way to explore a new city is to take a wrong turn, get lost, and discover new places by trying to figure out how to get back to the one place you know. This is something…
Can we move past a narcissistic gospel yet?
By Seth Vopat When I was a child and the senior pastor of my church asked me during one of several meetings, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior?” it was a no-brainer. I said, “I…
If you really want to make your pastor’s day
Last week, as more and more cards and notes appeared in my inbox, in my mailbox, and on my desk, all thanking me for serving as their minister, I began to wonder if someone had announced my retirement without my…
Spiritual gifts are from God
By George Bullard Many years ago when walking down the hall in the building where I worked, I decided I would stop by Ken’s office and ask about him. It was discovered several months earlier that Ken had a growth…