Maybe the variety of nature can help us laugh at ourselves, and grow in our appreciation for one another… while still taking life seriously. Scientists estimate that the number of species on earth ranges somewhere between 5 and 30 million, with about 8 million different kinds of bugs. Could there be a parallel between what […]
A visit to Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay harbor has left me with some stark and troubling images. Here on The Rock, men were known by their number and warehoused like hazardous material. Row after row of cramped, cage-like cells housed men who were told, “You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and […]
The Bible seems to give us different ways of answering this question. Some parts of the New Testament indicate that “real Christians” show their faith by the way they live. Other sections of the Bible show that “genuine” children of God can live without faith. So, what’s the answer? In short, here’s an attempt to […]
Something about the news on this morning after a Thanksgiving holiday feels like being on the wrong side of the road in fast traffic. So much is coming at us too fast even to process. Black Friday with doorbuster deals. Developing terror in Mumbai. Warnings for NY subways, and a president-elect facing such economic and […]
Started thinking that entitlement and thanksgiving are mutually exclusive, and that what’s at risk, if I don’t see the difference, is not only a heartless holiday, but also a shrinking spirituality. Then the most basic Google search gives me definitions that complicate my thoughts. For openers, I find, “The state of meeting the applicable requirements […]
By showing their regard for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, President-elect Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton have reminded us that, in the face of shared need, former enemies can come together around a cause far greater than themselves. Nowhere, however, do I find a nobler expression of […]
When Paul acknowledges in his 1st letter to the Corinthians that “All things are lawful” (1Cor 6:12), he uses a word that occurs about 40 times in the New Testament regarding whether a behavior is legally permissible. Since Paul adds in another letter that we are under grace, not law (Rom 6:14-15), how do we […]
There are a number of reasons to have issues with the Apostle Paul. Even Peter acknowledged that Paul had written things hard to understand (2Peter 3:14-18). But in addition to the fact that, in this text, Peter acknowledged Paul’s God-given wisdom and grouped his letters with “other Scripture,” here are some things I think we […]
I had a discussion with a friend over lunch the other day that got pretty intense. We’ve had these kinds of conversations before and have always ended up parting with a smile and looking forward to the next time. This day was no different, except that, looking back, we came closer to being farther away […]
Seems to me that this season of cutthroat politics gives us a way of looking at how some of us are handling our opinions about “the emerging church” issue. All too often we have seen opposing parties put the worst possible face on the other side. Over and over we have seen both sides look […]
