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The scars of loss
I casually asked a parishioner the other day how he lost his hand. I knew it happened when he was a young man, so I didn’t expect him to get emotional....
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: the purpose of university churches, the purpose of the game Monopoly, more.
Revolutionary words
Christians have always been uncomfortable with the Magnificat. Advent takes us places we would rather not go.
The widow's mistaken offering?
The passage (Mark 12:41–44) about the poor widow who put “everything she had” in the temple treasury was among the lectionary readings a few weeks ago, and it’s a frequent text for stewardship sermons. The example of the widow’s generosity seems clear enough, and it’s part of the church’s standard repertoire about sacrificial giving.
But Fergus Kerr suggests that the story is about not generosity but exploitation.
Reading Job
Who or what is the book of Job about? Many of us would say the book is the story of Job and about the problem of suffering. When in the past I read Job as the Bible’s discussion of why bad things happen to good people, I found it a frustrating book. While the question of suffering is discussed for chapter after chapter, the question of why people suffer isn’t ever answered--even when God shows up and speaks to Job. God doesn’t answer Job’s and my question.
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: the widow's mite, Reading Job, John Buchanan on the Magnificat, more.
Discomfort food
The Gideon Bible treats the Bible as comfort food. But a diet of the Bible consists of conflict and confrontation.
Safe, legal and rare
Most Americans are morally uncertain about abortion. Absolutists exist—like the defeated U.S....
Sunday, December 23, 2012: Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)
Over the years I’ve taken part in some amazing celebrations....
Charities fight changes on tax deductions
WASHINGTON (RNS) Most Americans who file income tax returns won't be affected by proposed changes in how charitable contributions are deducted because they don't itemize their deductions, federal i...
Christmas' missing icon: Mary breastfeeding Jesus
At its heartwarming core, Christmas is the story of a birth: the tender relationship between a new mother and her newborn child....
Christianity in Britain losing ground to Islam, secularism
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) New figures from the 2011 Census show that the number of people who identify as Christians in England and Wales has fallen by 4 million over the last 10 years....
Parliament bars Church of England from hosting gay weddings
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The British government unveiled a proposal on Tuesday (Dec....
Orthodox rabbis laud conviction of Hasidic man on sexual abuse charges
The world's largest group of Orthodox rabbis is lauding the process that led to the conviction of a Hasidic Jewish man on Monday (Dec....
'Are you my mother?' Sometimes, there's no easy answer
In a classic 1960 children's book, a baby bird toddles up to one critter after another asking, "Are you my mother?"...
Bracing for legal battle over gay marriage
The Supreme Court's decision to take up the explosive issue of same-sex marriage will thrust the high court into a policy debate that has divided federal and state governments and courts, as well a...
All is not calm; all is not bright
Those of us in violence-plagued neighborhoods look forward to winter's reprieve. Our teenagers understand Advent waiting all too well.
Young adults and stewardship: What gives?
Does Christian stewardship look different for millennials who grew up in our increasingly post-Christian world replete with Facebook, Justin Bieber, and legalized marijuana? Is the sky blue? Is North Dakota cold in winter?
The good folks at Luther Seminary’s Center for Stewardship Leadership and I have been in some conversations recently about young adults and stewardship.
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: The editors on abortion, Ashley-Anne Masters on urban violence and Advent, more.
Altar politics: Sharing communion on Election Day
On Nov. 6, our church building was both a polling place and a place for worship. At some point I began to see the latter as the main event.