By Michael Ruffin Last summer Dr. Ali Binazir wrote a blog post in which he posed the question, “What are your chances of coming into being?” He considered such questions as (1) the odds of your parents meeting, which he…
Lessons we can learn from Joseph
By Carl Hoover He stands near the center of countless creches, watching the Baby Jesus over Mary’s shoulder, with the stable behind him and flanked by shepherds, animals and wise men. Other players in the Christmas story told in miniature…
The perfect gift
By Amy Butler This time of year especially, I wish that gift-giving in our society happened a little differently than it does. The giving of gifts is forced into excessive displays concentrated in short periods of time every once in…
Take a digital fast this Advent
By Alan Rudnick Driving to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my family I wasn’t thinking about turkey, cranberry sauce or who would get to try their luck at the wishbone. I thought about only one thing: Twitter. This year I…
Attentiveness at Advent
By Daniel Vestal “Where have we discerned God at work in our midst?” The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship considers this question at the end of each monthly staff meeting. This time of reflection and sharing is usually the highlight of the…
Tebow apologetics
Football and politics have something in common these days besides combat. Each wrestles with the role religion plays in its game.
Giving thanks
By David Gushee In this Thanksgiving week, your curmudgeonly controversialist has chosen to give thanks rather than — this one time — make any more trouble. I am grateful to God for: — Reaching out to me and saving me…
A new angle on Advent
By Ken Sehested Reformation Sunday generally has a hard time competing with Halloween — except, maybe, for our Lutheran friends. Six years before Luther commenced his Ninety-Five Theses’ complaint with the Roman church, an earlier but lesser-known reform movement took…
Separate and unequal
By Bill Leonard When Jim Crow segregation laws ruled the American South, their classic defense lay in the phrase, “Separate but Equal,” meaning that while the races were divided, their facilities and services were supposedly the same. Of course everybody…