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Relationship smarts: A curriculum on dating and marriage
I’m in a high school classroom talking to “Lisa.” Her hair is dyed black and purple, and the piercing in her lower lip bounces as she talks. “I broke up with my boyfriend because of this class,” she says. The class is Introduction to Psychology, and the teacher is Char Kamper, who developed a curriculum called Connections to teach students about dating, relationships and marriage. “When did you break up with him?” I ask. “Three days ago,” Lisa says, and then she looks me straight in the eye. “I realized he only called me when he wanted one thing.”
Three resources for Christian formation: DVDs, online resources, books
"You pays your money and you takes your choice.” Several generations of students at Duke Divinity School have heard James “Mickey” Efird use those carnivalesque words to conclude debates over the m...
Monkey business: Unwanted lessons
In Transforming Church, Kevin Ford tells the story of a scientific experiment involving four monkeys and some bananas at the top of a pole in their cage....
The Aladura churches of Nigeria: Stunning geographical reach
Not long ago I was taking a cab from O’Hare Airport to downtown Chicago, and my friendly driver proved to be a Nigerian from the Yoruba people....
Power line: Learning to pray
Prayer serves many functions: it brings our attention to the fact that God is present. It makes the spot of ground on which we stand holy ground. It quiets and focuses the mind, clarifies intention and awakens the imagination, opening up the heart and lungs as we breathe more deeply and relax into this most intimate of encounters. As a communal practice, praying creates consensus and convergence of focus, teaching us how to be the body of Christ, and how to speak with one voice and one hope.
Prayer lab: We need living models
Prayer can be taught. Indeed, learning to pray is the quintessential means of learning how to be Christ’s disciples....
The last first: Matthew 20:1-16
All day long a landowner has been going into the marketplace to hire workers for his vineyard and now only one group remains....
Known by our love: Romans 14:1-12
We cannot choose who God will call into Christ’s body in baptism.
The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition
In the years preceding the American Revolution, the New Jersey tailor John Woolman (1720-1772) opposed many of the evils ...
Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome
This book is part of the saga begun in Stark’s provocative The Rise of Christiani...
Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a
The Muslim world is not a monolith....
The Life of Messiaen
There can be little doubt that Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is the most profoundly theological composer of the 20th century....
A Broad Place: An Autobiography
Jürgen Moltmann may be the most renowned theologian living today....
Keep going
Sometimes liberation is not enough. When the Hebrew people finally escaped Egypt, they might have shaken off their shackles, so to speak, but they still weren't done....
Shaping heaven
Like it or not, our lives inevitably intersect with the lives of others....
Taking awe breaks: The miracles that greet us each morning
I love living in a big city: the energy, the pace, the sirens. I love being able to walk or ride a bus to work, or catch a train to the airport....
Revelations in Iowa: When immigrants are sent away
For the past several months the debate over U.S. immigration policy has centered on the tiny town of Postville, Iowa....