Latest Articles
Templeton Foundation fights ID tag: "Supporting Science" is new motto
The Templeton Foundation has often described its principal grant-making interests using the expression “science and religion.” “No more,” says Pamela Thompson, Templeton’s vice president for commun...
Living goddesses: Court inquiry into ancient Nepalese tradition
Things seem to be looking up for Nepal. On November 21, the government signed a peace accord with Maoist rebels, thus ending an 11-year conflict that claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people....
Manger politics: The Nativity Story
So where does Jesus ever say, “I’m the Son of God”? My cabdriver was pressing me as we careened through the streets of Birmingham on the way to the airport....
Signs and sounds: Psalm 29; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Have you not known? Have you not heard? asks Isaiah. Those with ears to hear, let them hear, says Jesus. Day to day pours forth speech, says the psalmist, but God’s speech is pitched in such a register that many cannot distinguish it from silence.
Dressing up: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Colossians 3:12-17
Once a year, having waited to the very end of December, my wife and I dress up. Some people wait a lifetime to start living, but fortunately for us, New Year’s Eve intervenes every year. With mortality staring us right in the face, we get around to that date we should have had months ago. Rexene looks absolutely stunning in a cocktail dress. (How many times does a pastor’s wife get to wear a cocktail dress?)
Chairs and prayers: Like setting a perfect table for a grand banquet
I’ve been setting up chairs at our church since 1991. When I began, we were meeting in temporary places—a school, a fire station, and even a bar for a time....
Misusing Jesus: How the church divorces Jesus from Judaism
The fact that Jesus was a Jew has not gone unrecognized....
All souls
She died on Sunday, after a month of dateless days that began on Halloween and ended just short of Thanksgiving. We went from the hospice admitting office to a Halloween party in the family room, where volunteers offered us fruit punch, orange cupcakes and orange and black balloons. Three toddlers in identical ladybug suits were dancing on the faux-parquet ballroom floor to the electrically amplified folk songs of a long-haired balladeer.
Dressing up: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Colossians 3:12-17
Once a year, having waited to the very end of December, my wife and I dress up. Some people wait a lifetime to start living, but fortunately for us, New Year’s Eve intervenes every year. With mortality staring us right in the face, we get around to that date we should have had months ago. Rexene looks absolutely stunning in a cocktail dress. (How many times does a pastor’s wife get to wear a cocktail dress?)
Regifting: Redeemed and put to work
The verb regift was not in my vocabulary until this season, but now I see it leaping out from a sheaf of magazine covers....
Signs and sounds: Psalm 29; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Have you not known? Have you not heard? asks Isaiah. Those with ears to hear, let them hear, says Jesus. Day to day pours forth speech, says the psalmist, but God’s speech is pitched in such a register that many cannot distinguish it from silence.
Wandering pilgrim
Literature is a greater rival to religion than science is because both religion and literature seek the same kind of good....
Fall of the empire
The Mayan Empire existed for 4,000 years, from 2500 BC to 1500 AD, and it spanned five modern-day countries—Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize....
Best gift: What God wants us to have
The best gift I ever received was something I never wanted....
Gift wrapped: God's plan to call love out of us
My neighborhood offers Christmas shoppers lots of help: the counters are full, and the windows have been elegantly displaying gift suggestions since mid-October....
Reality check: Common interests and mutual goals
The nomination of Robert M. Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense may be as close as George Bush will come to acknowledging that the Iraq incursion has been misguided....
Century Marks
Charitable giving: An alternative Christmas gift is available through Charity Checks. Here’s how it works: you choose an amount and make the payment online. The recipient gets to choose the charity to which the gift goes. The giver gets the charitable tax deduction. The charity gets the donation (www.charitychecks.us).
One more candle: Advent in Lebanon
The Lebanese Presbyterian community is faithfully lighting candles on an Advent wreath this Sunday—and waiting....