Features
Can doctors help us die well? Physician-ethicist Daniel Sulmasy
"If I walk into the room of a patient dying in faith, hope, and love, I feel I need to take my shoes off. It is that holy."
Dying wishes: Advance care planning in La Crosse, Wisconsin
In 1991, 15 percent of La Crosse residents had an advance care plan. Local health-care leaders set a goal: increase this to 50 percent.
Taking up arms: Lebanese Christians get ready for ISIS
"I sell exclusively to fellow Shi'ites and to Christians," says one Lebanese arms dealer. "Demand from Christians has increased immensely."
Prayers with feet: Faith and hope at the Peoples Climate March
In New York, 400,000 people marched to demand action on climate change. Thousands of us were there at least partly because of our faith.
Books
Saving Sex, by Amy DeRogatis
The old stereotype is that evangelicals are unable or unwilling to talk about sex. Lately, the reality is the opposite.
The poet and politics
As two new biographies and a massive collection of poems show, Denise Levertov's distinctive work and life remain relevant and rewarding.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty
Income disparity is likely to keep getting worse, eventually undermining the viability of democratic capitalism. This stark message has made Thomas Piketty's book the object of much scrutiny.
Saying no
Bruce Dancis is keenly intelligent, soft-spoken, and possessed of a quiet dignity. So is his new memoir of his time as a draft resister.
We Make the Road by Walking, by Brian D. McLaren
Academics may find no theological breakthrough in Brian McLaren's latest book, but the ones who care about church life may still do a double take.
Touchdowns for Jesus and Other Signs of Apocalypse, by Marcia W. Mount Shoop
Grantland Rice compared the Notre Dame backfield to the four horsemen. Marcia Mount Shoop realigns football with apocalyptic thought—and makes a theological critique of the sport's systemic dysfunction.
Departments
Sex and the single Christian
In the privacy of the pastor's study, the gap between what the church says and the way people live becomes increasingly clear.
Good dog, bad dog
There is a black lab—a student's guide dog—lying on the floor during chapel. As I preach, I wonder what the dog is thinking.
Care at the end
In the U.S., assisted suicide has mostly been a hard sell. But there are some clear steps to take to improve end-of-life care.
The church’s new foundation
Many of us stand like grunting toddlers, longing for something but lacking the words. As the Spirit moves, our yearnings begin to wear syllables.
Marriage on the edge
Gillian Flynn has been accused of hating women. I disagree: Flynn pushes the truth of what can happen to women in a world that diminishes them.
News
Ukraine Baptists displaced, yet aid victims of conflict
Ukrainian Baptists report that about 5,500 of their members have been displaced from their homes. They are among the 100,000 people displaced as a result of conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Thousands of people are wounded, and some have died....
Amid drought, churches draw together
In what is supposed to be the harvest season, many parts of California are feeling the effects of the drought that has raged for most of the year....
General Seminary board keeps dean, offers to reinstate faculty
The embattled General Theological Seminary will keep its controversial dean and is prepared to reinstate the majority of its faculty....
Pakistan court upholds death penalty for Christian woman convicted of blasphemy
(The Christian Science Monitor) A Pakistani high court has upheld the death sentence given to Asia Bibi, a jailed Christian woman convicted of blasphemy in 2010, whose case at the time played...
Ten seminaries given $1.5 million to address topics in science
Responding to a real or perceived gap between science and faith, ten Christian U.S....
Methodists avoid trial of pastors in complaint over same-sex wedding
United Methodists in Pennsylvania have agreed to resolve a complaint against three dozen clergy who blessed a same-sex wedding without taking the case to trial....
Preaching on mental illness often rare, survey finds
Protestant clergy rarely preach about mental illness to their congregations and only one-quarter of congregations have a plan in place to assist families of the mentally ill, a recent LifeWay Research survey found....
Lectionary
Reign of Christ Sunday (Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46)
God has put "all things under his feet." Shouldn't we be worried about such a portrayal of absolute power?
Sunday, November 16, 2014: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Are our days of destruction the "day of the Lord"?