by Jim Burklo
If Barack Obama asked me to endorse him, I’d have to excommunicate him for his own good.
That’s my conclusion after the messy consequences of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s association with Obama, and of Pastor John Hagee’s proclaimed support for John McCain. The gonzological utterances of these pastors have given all of us Christian clergy […]
by Robert K. Martin
This is the third blog in a series I’ve called “Being church”. In this series I’ve tried to describe how church is actually a verb. When Christians gather together, we are not ‘church’ because we call ourselves a church or because we belong to a congregation or because we built a nice […]
by David Bartlett
For a few days earlier this month I divided my time between my official job in Decatur, Georgia and the New Baptist Covenant celebration in Atlanta. The celebration had been planned by President Jimmy Carter and several other distinguished Baptists as an attempt to bring many Baptists together across the usual lines of […]
by Fred Weidmann
The continuing relevance of the great blues song, Stormy Monday, popularized by T. Bone Walker and re-popularized by the Allman Brothers and—on any given weekend—by various bar bands across the country, is self-evident. But what might it mean? One listens to the narrator’s voice work through the (fatalistic?) week, declaring Tuesday “just as […]
by Roy Howard
It used to be conventional wisdom to avoid religion and politics at gatherings of friends and family. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible not to talk about them. I think that’s a good thing; after all, for people of faith their religious convictions, if they mean anything at all, certainly inform their political opinions. It’s […]
by Steve Rankin
I hate to admit it, but I just turned 53 years old. I was born smack-dab in the middle of the Baby Boom. On my birthday a few days ago, my wife and I were headed to a worship service out of town and stopped at McDonalds for a cup of coffee. Two […]
By Mona Eltahawy
CAIRO – I wore a headscarf for 9 years. I was 16 when I chose to start wearing hijab – a form of clothing that covers up the body with the exception of the face and hands. At the time I believed it was a requirement from God of all Muslim women.
Because it […]
bu Jim Burklo
I learned something that impressed me when I visited Wichita a few weeks ago. As a passenger in a car driving over the river that bisects the city, I said, “Oh, there’s the Arkansas (ARkansaw)!” It brought back memories of a cross-country road trip I took many years ago, following the river down […]
by Jarrett McLaughlin
Is the Church becoming nothing more than a beautiful place to get married? This question comes as one among many questions being asked about the future of the Church and its place in the social fabric of America. As a Pastor of Young Adult ministry, I hear many such questions from that faithful generation […]
by Roy Howard
Raise your hand if you think the Church is obsessed with sex, and especially homosexuality. If you read the news reports with any regularity you might think there is absolutely nothing else worth discussing in the minds of church folks. Okay. I admit that’s a bit over the top; but not by far. […]
By Mona Eltahawy
I’m from Cairo, a city that during the day is home to an estimated 18 million people. Driving through the city – I should say megapolis – is the nightmare you would imagine and crossing the streets requires a strong heart, some would say a death wish.
Which is why what happens every evening […]
by Wes Avram
We believe that everyone—political figure or commentator, citizen or alien, man or woman, black or white, conservative or radical—who at this particular time says that this people and this nation are in deep, perhaps irremediable political trouble, speaks the truth.
~ ~ Will D. Campbell and James Y. Holloway.
Some words come back with haunting […]
by Roy Howard
This is a story about neighbors.
Marduk is my neighbor. We share a fence in the suburbs of Maryland near Washington, DC. “In my country” or “in my village” is how Marduk begins many sentences, having lived in Iran until seven years ago when he moved to Maryland with his wife and two children. […]
By Mona Eltahawy
I was well into my two-eggs-sunny-side-up brunch last Saturday morning at the local café when I found a copy of that day’s New York Times opened at the opinion section. I browsed it as I munched on my toast and then turned to the front page of the paper where a picture I […]
by David Bartlett
I teach at a seminary where we try very hard to be sensitive to the diversity of the whole body of Christ. While most of the community is of Euro-American descent and the overwhelming majority of the student body consist of anglo Presbyterians, we are delighted that the faculty is becoming more and more […]
by Matt Fitzgerald
A few years ago a member of the church I then served asked me to preach a sermon addressing the question, “How the Bible Says it is Okay to be Gay.” I was stumped. The Bible says things are beautiful or idolatrous, sinful or wondrous, evil or holy. Terrible is a biblical category. So […]
by Roy Howard
Soon Americans in the United States will engage in the annual celebration of the founding of the nation. There will be patriotic speeches, parades and flag waving along with family picnics. All of which presents an annual dilemma for Christians; or at least it could if we raised certain questions at our pot luck […]