By Gary Furr Here in Alabama, To Kill a Mockingbirdis one of our great treasures. You can still go to Monroeville, Ala., and see a live re-enactment of the story every year by the local citizenry. You start out in the…
The Bible and Obamacare
By Jim Denison The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (commonly known as Obamacare) is the most hotly debated legislation of our time. Its fate now rests with the Supreme Court, which recently heard three days of oral…
Why did Jesus have to die?
By Amy Butler Atonement just nags at me this time of year. Thanks to New Testament writers and thousands of years of church history, there are many different interpretations of Christ’s death as it relates to our salvation, probably as…
Worship preferences
I By Bob Burroughs I am sick and tired of hearing the term, “Worship Wars!” We have about run this one into the ground, don’t you think? In addition, the term is offensive, labeling the church choir the “war department”…
Attracting a new generation of leaders in ministry
By Lydia Hoyle When I was growing up, Christian ministers were widely held in high esteem. Although a few Elmer Gantrys may have been in the mix, churches and communities generally received their ministers with respect and honor. As a…
The rise of church discipline
By Bill Wilson Have you noticed our tendency to try and control others with rules? We started with Ten Commandments. That led to Jewish scholars noting that the Torah actually contains 613 commandments, which can be divided into 365 “negative…
An ancient story; still true in 2012
By Marv Knox Our Bible study class has been reading from the Old Testament prophet Amos in the weeks leading up to Easter. This is the season the church calls Lent, a period of preparation for commemorating Jesus’ death, burial…
Handling violence in ‘The Hunger Games,’ and the Bible
By J. Muckenfuss News is still buzzing with talk of The Hunger Gamesand its spectacular opening weekend. With three kids in my house who have read the book, we too were anticipating the opening. I took one of my girls…
Absorbing the violence
By Bill Leonard “We absorb so much violence and insecurity everyday that we are like time bombs ready to explode. We need to find a cure for our illness.” That quotation, taken from the book Living Buddha, Living Christ and…