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Sunday, August 31, 2014: Romans 12:9-21
While this is not the exuberant rhetorical surplus we find in 1 Corinthians 13, love is still Paul's guiding principle.
‘Moral Monday’ expands to a week of social justice action across U.S.
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Back in Iraq
Air strikes give the illusion of surgical intervention. But they are not unambiguous humanitarian acts.
Brain states
Religious fanaticism is, regrettably, front and center in our collective consciousness again in this the summer of bad news. Whether it is Iraq or Israel/Palestine or other places around the globe, many people are quick to point to the role that religion plays in stoking the flames of violence and hatred. And whenever there is violence associated with religion in the news, we can expect to see articles like “The god effect” over at Aeon magazine.
How not to act in solidarity with Ferguson
What’s the best way for white Americans to act in solidarity with black Americans protesting the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson?...
At church rally, community pours out support for Michael Brown’s family
c. 2014 St. Louis Post-Dispatch...
Nuns honor Elizabeth Johnson, theologian criticized by U.S. bishops
Sister Elizabeth Johnson, who drew U.S....
Instruments of death: Can there be a humane execution?
Every method of killing can become a form of torture for the person being executed—and a means of moral injury to the executioner.
Everybody is somebody
The church is still uncomfortable with human bodies. It does little to promote the rich connection between bodies and Christian spirituality.
Paul uses "body" as a metaphor, and contemporary Christians do the same when we say "the body of Christ." This metaphorical usage generally takes precedence in the church’s practice.
Selah
I jog over some of the most beautiful and haunted geography. There is a place in Chattanooga where stunning nature collides with a series of heart-wrenching narratives.
Prayer and poetry
I'm not that good at either one.
I know, this is an odd confession for a pastor to make. You don't like to hear your pastor saying, "I'm no good at praying." And don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't pray. It's just that I am apt to compare myself with people who seem to be able to go on and on, pray aloud for hours with no notes.
The Ecology of Spirituality, by Lucy Bregman
Many current meanings of spirituality have nothing to do with the spiritual or the spirit, but Lucy Bregman doesn't write them off. Instead, she wants to find out what "makes spirituality so appealing."
Meeting God at the movies: Film as a source of revelation
Most Christians have not been encouraged to think theologically about divine encounters that take place outside the church and its scripture.
Militarized policing: The history of the warrior cop
In the 19th century, the U.S. adopted a "social peacekeeper" model of policing. Then the Civil War left behind a surplus of firearms.
Time for another paradigm shift in policing
Another incident of police use of deadly force has grabbed national (and international) attention. It happened just outside Saint Louis, the city where my family and I live....
Other people saying things
"We already know that he started out at a time when it was accepted for a Ferguson cop to ...
A different assumption for today
August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption. The Catholic Church teaches that at the end of Mary’s life, she was assumed into heaven, body and soul.
You might assume, if you knew I was an Associate Missionary of the Assumption, that I had something to say about today’s feast. But here’s the truth about how I started my AMA year in France.
Real Good Church, by Molly Phinney Baskette
First Church in Somerville, Massachusetts, went from an attendance of 35 to 130 in ten years, with as many as 350 people showing up for Easter....