In 1936, with war clouds gathering in Europe, author E.B. White wrote the following for The New Yorker: “Shopping in Woolworth’s, in the turbulent days, we saw a little boy put his hand inquiringly on a ten-cent Christ child, part…
Merry Christmas from Paul the apostle in prison
Leave it the Apostle Paul to make a prison cell sound like a spiritual oasis. Throughout much of the New Testament, he’s trapped, you know, imprisoned by the Roman Empire for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Time and again,…
Concerns over escalating Ethiopian conflict trigger memories of past wars in Africa and the need for warlords to embrace peace
As government and rebel forces in Ethiopia advance toward each other and continue to beat the drums of war, concerns continue to pour in from people around the world about the escalating violence and humanitarian disaster in the East African…
Grace and peace to you — at the tip of a sword
For weeks now, I’ve been teaching verse by verse through the book of 1 Thessalonians on Sunday mornings. Last week and this week, we hit the hinge between the last verse of 1 Thessalonians and the opening lines of 2…
The need to be persecuted
Yesterday, I started teaching a new series to my adult Bible study class on 1 Thessalonians. As part of the introduction to this Pauline epistle, I attempted to explain to the class the kind of real persecution these early Christians…
On this anniversary of the atomic bomb, how shall Christians think about U.S. foreign policy?
I write this post on Aug. 6, the 76th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which destroyed that city and killed 70,000 to 80,000 people. Today, Aug. 9, is the anniversary of the day the U.S. bombed Nagasaki,…
The personal story of an Israeli Jew’s longing for peace
In the contemporary mix of international politics, media reports of distant battles and casualties, or impassioned diatribe from armchair analysts, it is easy to forget that war, terrorism and injustice are written in the personal stories of real people. To…
In Nigeria, this man is on a mission to promote peace
In the last couple of years, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has attracted national and international headlines for violence perpetrated by the terrorist group Boko Haram or other criminal elements within the country. Many of the incidents, particularly those relating…
On praying for peace in Jerusalem
Over the last couple of weeks, my heart has been heavy over the turmoil erupting in Gaza between Palestinian and Israeli forces. As missiles and bombs dropped on buildings that serve as places of governmental power and countless lives were…