When I was discerning the next step in terms of pursuing vocational ministry, a kind pastor friend suggested that I keep a notebook with me at all times. Strange advice to one just considering going to seminary, I thought. He…
Asking Good Questions
“[And] they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2.46, NRSV) This month hundreds of thousands of students flock back to school ready to learn, ready to read, and ready to…
A new year in theological education
By David Gushee Tonight I enter a classroom at McAfee School of Theology where 80 students will gather for the introductory course in Christian ethics. Fully one-third of our students will be in this one class. I have been thinking…
Number crunching and list keeping
Every couple years I put on my accountant hat and crunch numbers. Not the tax-paying accountant hat I put every year by April 15 and sweat over numbers. My number-crunching-accountant hat is the one I put on when I start…
Christians, guns, and the myth of redemptive violence
“How many more daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands, wives, friends—people created by and in the very image of God—have to die a horrific death before Americans will learn to lay down their guns?”…
Saying goodbye to a mentor and friend
By Roger Olson When I look back over my life and career, I can confidently say there was no more important influence on my theological development than Dr. Ralph Powell who passed away at age 96 on Aug. 7 in…
Anyone for a little ‘tarof’?
I confess that I miss the back fence neighbors we had in South Carolina. On each side of us, all you had to do was walk out the door and there was someone ready to offer a smile, a chat,…
Prodigals and those who love them
Even if you are the parent of a child who has never rebelled, been in trouble, or broken your heart, please read the rest of this blog. If you have never encountered a day of difficulty in raising your children,…
Mistaken identity
By Bill Leonard A case of “mistaken identity”– that’s what the authorities called the killings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wis., only days after the mass murder of 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Mistaken…