By R. Kevin Johnson During the past few weeks, Christian churches around the world have been engaging the scriptures during Lent. This season will lead to the commemoration of Jesus’ death and burial, and to the celebration of his divine…
Counting the days
By Brett Younger When I was in the seventh grade a white-suited evangelist guaranteed that Jesus would be back in less than five years. Every 13-year-old boy at church that night had the same thought: “I will never get to…
Meatless and mindful
By Amy Butler Perhaps this only occurs in pastors’ households, but there has been a lot of recent conversation in my house about giving things up for Lent: What one considered giving up for Lent, what one decided to give…
Why terrorism is getting worse
By Jim Denison “Despite nearly a decade of war, al Qaeda is stronger today than when it carried out the 9/11 attacks.” So begins Leah Farrall’s fascinating article in the current edition of Foreign Affairs. Farrall is former senior counterterrorism…
‘God Hates Fags’ church apologizes
TOPEKA, Kan. (ABP) – Pastor Fred Phelps said today the infamous “God Hates Fags” signs associated with protests by his Westboro Baptist Church are the result of a typographical error. Phelps said the signs, used thousands of times around the…
Another lesson from the Baptist battles
By Chris Hughes Baptist gatherings tend to raise some very interesting issues. At the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s recent General Assembly titled “Living Justice and Mercy,” leaders took on many pressing social issues in beautiful ways. But a…
Edwin Scott Gaustad a witness for conscience
By Bill Leonard Born in Iowa in 1923, he completed the B.A. at Baylor University in 1947 and the Ph.D. at Brown in 1951. His dissertation, The Great Awakening in New England, 1741-1742, was published in 1957, the first of…
A church for those who wander
By Bill Wilson The book of James closes with a most interesting assertion: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner…
Conviction and freedom
By David Gushee What is the proper relationship between conviction and freedom? By “conviction” I simply mean clear theological and ethical beliefs and the willingness to communicate such beliefs just as clearly, one goal of such communication being to persuade…
Love’s hard calling
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” are among the phrases most quoted and memorized by many of us in seeking to be followers of…
‘Recalculating!’
By Amy Butler I have a very complicated relationship with the GPS satellite navigation system in my car. On the one hand, I find that the GPS is becoming more and more critical to my sanity, if not my very…
Opinion: Finding a Bible that fits
(ABP) — I wandered into the Bible section at a Borders’ going-out-of-business sale and thought, “I need more choices.” Fortunately, the publishers are looking out for me. On Ash Wednesday, new translations of the New International Version (the most popular…