Latest Articles
Is ministry a career?
I started with the best of intentions. We all did.
My seminary classmates and I absorbed a great deal of advice from—where else?—an older generation of pastors, and then we did our best to follow that advice, working long hours, honing our pastoral skills, sometimes even receiving additional and impressive-sounding degrees.
Rabbi who nurtured evangelical love for Israel courts black churches
c. 2016 Religion News Service...
Morocco summit of scholars strives to improve Muslim treatment of minorities
After the Prophet Muhammad established the first Muslim state, he wrote the Charter of Medina to encourage harmony among people of different faiths....
Lord’s Resistance Army is reemerging in central Africa, warns Catholic bishop
A senior Roman Catholic bishop in the Central African Republic is warning that the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel force that killed more than 100,000 people in northern Uganda in the 1980s and ’90...
Harvest in due time
Sustainability is certainly a goal for most church plants. But have denominations set up a model that is sustainable for pastors?
To touch the face of God
Thirty years ago this morning, the space shuttle Challenger exploded. I happened to be in a car and heard the news on the radio. It wasn't until hours later that I saw the footage.
I was not a fan of President Reagan, but he had some leadership skills that I've come to admire.
The God in Franklin Graham's words
Franklin Graham wrote the other day that “Islam denies that God has a son.” Note the unqualified, singular, capitalized God in that statement.
Political activism and the God gap
Religious polarization among activists and voters exists, in ever-increasing quantity. The question is, why?
American Bar Association looks into discrimination complaint at BYU law school
c. 2016 Religion News Service...
Public policy and love of neighbor in a time of transition
We live in an era of transition between more stable ages. We face material choices now that will shape and serve our communities for long generations to come. Society is emerging in fits and starts from centuries of essentialism that defined people by race, gender, religion, and class into narrow identities with determined roles.
Why the church is a bad sport
It was a silly video, really, just a little bit of feel good fluff that drifted into my social media filter-feeding.
Into the dark with Dante
Dante speaks to the uncertainties of every generation, to those who have awakened lost in an impenetrable darkness.
New pastor seeks to bring hope to Charleston church following massacre
(The Christian Science Monitor) Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church church in Charleston, South Carolina, has a new pastor...
Russian pressure forces historic Orthodox summit to meet in Crete
c. 2016 Religion News Service...
In Austria, a hotel where refugees are the hosts
(The Christian Science Monitor) It is less than a year old, but the reviews for this bright, stylish hotel in Vienna on Trip...
Eugene Borowitz, Reform Jewish leader, dies at 91
Eugene B. Borowitz, a leader and theologian in Reform Judaism, died January 22 at age 91....
Burying William: Funeral for a gang victim
I didn't start my day thinking about gang killings. But then a man showed up and asked about a funeral for his nephew—on Palm Sunday.
February 14, First Sunday in Lent: Luke 4:1-13
As Luke tells the story, even though Jesus doesn’t turn stones to bread, he feeds those who hunger. And even though he says no when Satan offers him political power, a vision of God’s all-encompassing reign of shalom is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry.
Ultra-Orthodox Israeli men break a taboo by working
At the age of 36, Michael Luc realized he needed to find a good job....
Wrestling with my angel
A year or so ago the story of Jacob wrestling the angel came up in the lectionary....