By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee My friend Glen Stassen died today (Saturday, April 26) in Pasadena. He was 78. But because he was born on Leap Day—February 29, 1936—Glen liked to joke that he was only 19. Until an…
America’s God-awful perspective on God-absent prayer
By Marv Knox Imagine you’re God, and you care about what happens in Anytown, USA. It’s Tuesday evening, and you’re ready for someone in Anytown to request your guidance over the city council meeting. The mayor calls on the ministerial…
More reflections on the rising student debt: A Latina Christian perspective (part II)
Some days ago I published a blog about why student debt has become almost unavoidable. I mentioned that there are at least two sides to this issue. The first one is the increasing cost of education. After exploring reasons for…
Fifty days to party (and ponder)
By Jeff Harris Even though Marshmallow Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs are long gone, it’s still Easter. The church spends 40 days (we call it Lent) preparing for Easter and when it finally arrives, we wear seersucker and hats, consume…
Get back to work
By Russell Waldrop You have just returned to work after some time off and you are standing around the water cooler sharing highlights with your colleagues. During the chitchat, two senior employees approach your group and ask: “Why are you…
A plastic feast, part 2
In the first part of my reflections on the recent Fox-National Geographic reboot of Carl Sagan’s famous series, Cosmos, I focused on some of the scientific problems in the first episode. Those, however, were far from the only problems with…
The Clansman
By Bill Leonard “This is an institution of Chivalry, Humanity, Mercy, and Patriotism: embodying in its genius and principles all that is chivalric in conduct, noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose.” With those words Thomas Dixon…
No narrative movement makes ‘Heaven Is for Real’ a tough go
By Michael Parnell I went into Heaven Is for Real wanting to like it. The trailer ran on a video loop for several months and I fell for the little boy. But in the final analysis it’s just not that…
Missed church last Sunday? What do you need to do?
An increasing number of people miss church on Sundays, or other times during the week when primary worship services or small groups gather. The average number of weeks active Christians attend church is decreasing. The benchmark of at least 48…