Latest Articles
Federal judge strikes down Oklahoma same-sex marriage ban
A federal judge recently ruled that Oklahoma’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. Same-sex marriages were put on hold in the state, however, because U.S....
Investment option
Ministry is an undertaking of the entire church. Ministers flourish when they share their experience and reflect on it with others.
Jahi McMath and the bodies of children
Jahi McMath is dead. Or, Jahi McMath is alive. Each statement is true—depending upon the person you ask. Thirteen-year-old Jahi had complications after surgery in Oakland, California. Doctors later pronounced her brain dead; there was no brain activity. Yet to her family, she remains alive.
You were born to be loved
In ministry, there are sometimes moments when something unexpected happens, something that spills out of our careful containers of planning and order, something that points simply, poignantly, and ...
Theology for Liberal Protestants, by Douglas F. Ottati
The genius of Doug Ottati’s work is that he illuminates ways that theology is a source for rather than an obstacle to piety and practical living.
Sunday, January 26, 2014: Isaiah 9:1-4
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Everyone who has ever sat through a performance of the Messiah knows what’s next: “For unto us a child is born . ....
John Kerry makes first Vatican visit, hints at Obama meeting with Pope Francis
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Pastor stunts make a point and garner headlines
A California pastor made headlines in January when he announced that he will live like an atheist for a year to see what it’s like on the other side of belief....
Tony Campolo to shutter his 40-year-old ministry
Tony Campolo, a progressive evangelical leader who counseled President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, has announced that the organization he founded nearly 40 years ago will close...
A dollar here where it's needed, a dollar there where it isn't
So congressional negotiatiors have followed up on December's budget agreement with ...
Dancing with the elephant
In one of my Mennonite Facebook groups recently, someone asked who would be the first to blog about the “elephant in the room.”...
Holding on and letting go
The aging-parent memoir is a crowded genre. Still, I was eager to read Jeanne Murray Walker’s account of her mother’s last years. I wasn’t disappointed.
ANALYSIS: Pope Francis’ cardinals point the way to Catholicism’s future
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Treatment of brain-dead patients criticized
The cases of two young women declared brain-dead have generated sympathy for their families, but also have left some doctors and bioethic...
Distinguishing states of unconsciousness
Brain death: Brain-dead patients are no longer alive. They have suffered an irreversible cessation of all activity in both the brain and the brain stem....
Notes on loving your neighbor
It's easy to love Mr. C. It's not as easy to love Mrs. M., and it’s stone-cold not easy to love that guy down the street.
Preaching epiphanies
The story of Jesus, at least the way John tells it, begins unspectacularly. “There was a man sent by God, and his name was John.” What does John do for a living? He is a preacher. We can’t get to Jesus without going through a witness, no epiphany without preaching.
Welcome out
When it comes to church, I’m a wanderer: I don’t have a church home so much as a village of church tents....