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New today (and yesterday) from the Century: Stephanie Paulsell on Captain Phillips; Denny Weaver on the Old Testament, Jesus and nonviolence; more.

After 9/11 Rodriguez was determined to learn more about the religion that purportedly inspired the terrorists who engineered the attacks....

Captain Phillips emphasizes the larger story: long before they meet, the lives of the pirates and the captain are already bound together.

When her publisher scheduled Chicago as a stop on her book tour, Anne Lamott asked that the reading be held at Broadway United Methodist Church. She’s worshiped there in the past and feels at home.

Another day, another talented Americana songwriter immersed in the language of a faith he doesn’t profess.

Since the 1970s, Ethiopia has seen something like what Europe saw around 1520: a movement based largely on growing access to the vernacular Bible.

A week from Sunday, on the Feast of the Reign of Christ, Holy Covenant UMC in Chicago—where I work part time as a musician—is holding its second annual service spotlighting the music of Bob Dylan. (Not calling it a Dylancharist.) If you're in Chicago the evening of 11/24, come out and join us. Below is the piece I wrote for the church newsletter.

Billy Graham’s 95th birthday party last week was a heartwarming event—and a media spectacle. Most accounts of the celebration emphasized the star-studded guest list. Even in his golden years, Graham has not lost his golden touch: an aura of wholesome Christian patriotism that appeals to entertainers looking to transcend showbiz as well as to culture warriors on the make.  The reporters who covered the party provided a window into Graham’s lasting power as a cultural icon, but they largely missed his significance to American Christianity.

New today from the Century: Philip Jenkins on reformation in Ethiopia, Molly Worthen on Billy Graham, more.

Malian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Rokia Traoré has long blended West African music with occidental influences. Her fifth album, produced by P. J. Harvey collaborator John Parish, features the strongest rock element yet.

On Christ the King Sunday it seems pastorally heavy to drag ourselves to the foot of the cross. On the other hand, maybe it’s exactly the right move....

Food stamps are efficient, effective and good for the economy. So should we cut them a lot, or just a little?

When it comes to weirdly argued crankiness, tsk-tsk-ing about lazy, entitled millennials is a pretty competitive field. But Jennifer Graham's piece last week stands out from the pack: In colonial times, nine out of 10 people worked on food production, hence John Smith’s famous edict at Jamestown: “He who works not, eats not.” (There was no enabling 99-cent value menu then.) The millennials, alas, are trophy kids, a generation spawned not for their usefulness at harvest but because they look so precious in those matching pajamas from Hanna Andersson. No need to respond to most of this, because in the millennial retort category—another tough bracket—we already have a winner.

In my work, I get to have conversations with college students about vocation and calling....

New today from the Century: The editors on food stamps, Nancy Janisch on why we bother with small things, more.

c. 2013 Religion News Service...

c. 2013 USA Today...

Battery Park's carnival atmosphere was just what my family was looking for. We needed to be somewhere with fresh, crass air—far from our parsonage home.

Some people conflate the two words; others see them as an oxymoron. Since leaving the army, I've found that they're both right in some ways and wrong in others.

In my Century lectionary column for this week, I focused on the reading from Isaiah 65. It’s a text I find baffling, frustrating and hopeful. If space were limitless, here are some other things I might have included.