The Great Commission is one of several scriptural reasons Rick Warren believes women are called by God to leadership in the church, he told Russell Moore in a March 8 podcast. Warren, recently retired pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern…
Eastertide: The outing of the church
We have entered Eastertide, the liturgical season beginning with Easter and ending 50 days later on Pentecost (also known as Whitsunday). The formulation of this season parallels the period in Judaism between the first day of Pesach (Passover, marking their…
The good news of the Resurrection transcends the social agendas of any Christian faction
Christ is risen! This the greatest story ever told, the most important event in human history, the central truth of the last 2,000 years. It’s also a breaking story and an ongoing revolution, because Jesus is still alive and still…
Christ came to make us truly human: Remade in the image of Christ
This is the second in a three-week Advent series. In six places in the New Testament, five of them in the (probable) writings of Paul, the image of God is reinterpreted in light of Jesus Christ. The imago dei becomes…
To live into Easter, we need to keep writing a new song
Easter is here. But before we move too far into this season of hope, we need to pause and remember how Jesus died. Jesus was not the first person of color to be murdered by the authorities; his death was…
The habits of churches that need resurrection
In the 13th century, the Muslim poet Rumi had an interesting way of describing our need for resurrection: “The mystics are gathering in the street. Come out!” “Leave me alone. I’m sick.” “I don’t care if you’re dead! Jesus is…
Crucifixion and coronavirus: a Holy Week unlike any other
David declared that even though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, goodness and mercy would follow him always and that God would be with him forever. This year, this Holy Week, we have to find a way to believe that.
Contrary to the view of Triumphant Christianity, Easter is for failures
A Christianity that brings newness to deadness, even if the newness was something we would never have chosen for ourselves, is the sort of thing that just might blow the doors off the universe if we’ll let it. At the least, I know this kind of Christianity manages to empty my tomb year after year after year.
Doubt is a part of faith — especially in uncertain times like these
Take a few hundred Nazis and Klansmen marching openly in Charlottesville, add three fatalities and a wink from the White House, and many people are apt to wonder if God is really out there.