John Buchanan
Varieties of order
A visit with Argentinan Pentecostal pastors left me grateful that the Spirit
can use a variety of traditions—some orderly and some wonderfully
disorderly—for the growth of the kingdom.
Double duty
Christians need to support the cause of a Palestinian state that
will live peacefully beside Israel—and at the same
time reach out to our Jewish neighbors in
friendship and love and shared commitment to the common good.
Staying together
For Jesus, unity among his disciples is an instrument of the evangel itself. Presbyterians have a great evangelical opportunity to show a fractured world that it is possible for people to disagree and yet remain in fellowship.
Grateful, not joyful
I confess that I'm not up to forgiving Osama bin Laden. But I'm not going to dance in the street over his death either.
Something game-changing
When the great theologian Karl Barth was charged with being a
universalist, he reportedly denied it, but then quoted 1 John: "Christ
died for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the
whole world."
Spring for books
Martin Marty laments the moment when you realize you are not going to read all the books you hoped and planned to read—and you will have to depend on what others are saying about books you wi...
Amid messy politics
If we're following Jesus, we can't spend our lives in Galilee. We can't
hide behind the popular myth that religion and politics don't mix.
A historic ban
On Ash Wednesday, Illinois governor Pat Quinn signed a bill banning capital punishment. A member of my congregation offers a powerful Lenten lesson for the year the death penalty was abolished in Illinois.
Scenes of grief
When I was six weeks into my student pastorate, I had been to exactly one funeral—when I was seven years old. But suddenly Johnny
Johnson died, I was a pastor, and Pearl Johnson collapsed in my arms.
Living traditions
"Are we witnessing the death of America's denominations?" asks Russell D. Moore, pointing out that people tend to choose a church based mostly on the nursery or the music. This is not new information.
Interfaith parishioners
Amy Frykholm's article "Double belonging" took me back to my first encounter with double belonging....
A stinging critique
In the late 1970s a colleague handed me a copy of Douglas John Hall's Lighten Our Darkness: Towards an Indigenous Theology of the Cross. "I think you'll like this," she said....
Violent America
During the past year, Chicago has experienced a disturbing spate of murders of police officers....
Entwined with us
The birth of Jesus contradicts the idea of a God who "lay above the earth like a layer of icy cirrus." The birth means that we encounter God, not only in elegant theology but in work and in our enjoyment of beauty, friendship and love—in love particularly.
Hefty reading
I've recently read and I highly recommend the following four books. Each is different and satisfying. Each is hefty, which is satisfying in its own way—it always feels like something of a statement to travel with a hardback book that's hard to fit into an airplane carry-on bag.
Loss of Context
I don't know what I'm going to do without Context: Martin E. Marty on Religion and Culture. Earlier this year Marty and the Claretians, who have published Context 12 times a year, announced that it was closing down. I've been in a mild depression ever since.
Oasis in Cambridge
The United Reformed Church of Great Britain has about 75,000 members in 1,600 congregations. It has been declining in membership for years....
A different witness
Following the attacks of 9/11, the congregation I serve became aware that though it has a longstanding relationship with a nearby synagogue, it has had no ongoing connection with Muslims.
City prayers
Carlyle Marney said that each of us is like a house, with a
living room where we entertain and a dark basement where we store the
trash. And each house has a balcony with all the people
who have influenced and inspired us. The way to
celebrate All Saints Day, he said, is to step out onto the front lawn
and salute the people on your balcony. One of my balcony people
died recently.