by Chris Surber We’ve forgotten how to grieve. In our efforts to sterilize and glamorize our lives we have ostracized anguish. It isn’t allowed in our smoke filled light show worship services because it’s frankly a downer. It’s not welcomed in our mass marketed DVD Bible Studies because it doesn’t draw crowds. Today we…
by David Moffett-Moore Charlie Brown’s Snoopy likes to dance, chanting, “To dance is to live, to live is to dance!” and he makes a convincing case. He dances with vigor and abandonment. Snoopy throws his whole being into the dance; in return, the dance expresses all that Snoopy is and hopes for. I like…
by Bill Tuck When I was pastor of St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, one of my church members told me that one of the most vivid memories that he had from his small rural church was the service of foot washing. I don’t expect that there are too many of us who…
by Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. In a recent segment on Global Christian Perspectives discussing my last blog post on the minimum wage, the claim was made about opposition to the minimum wage, “That’s greed. Everyone who has argued against a minimum wage, or even a living wage, has wanted to keep the bottom line for…
by Bruce Epperly Paul is the theologian of grace. God’s grace transformed his life, turning him from persecutor to proclaimer, and assuring him that he was a new creation, despite his past behavior. Over the years, many who see themselves as Pauline theologically believe that God does everything and that we do nothing. Left…
by Kent Ira Groff Bless the Lord, O my self,* and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name (Psalm103:1). *nefesh Hebrew soul What do folks mean when they talk about soul? It seems so nebulous. Spirituality often gets a bum rap for seeming disconnected from the stuff of life. “Soul”—nefesh in Hebrew)…
by Doris Murdoch This is my fourth post on my Holy Land tour. I’m trying to allow God to lead me to the content of each post. At this point, I’m not sure why I feel led to this post. The use of traditional guardians in the Holy City of Jerusalem has left my…
by Drew Smith In my last column on this discussion network, I wrote about how we can discover contentment through the experience of God’s continual presence, the present that God gives us to live today, and the relationships God brings into each of our lives. However, as I thought more about discovering my own…
by Rev. Dr. Robert R. LaRochelle It has long been a well-established ‘given’ that the sermon plays a crucial role in any worship service. The importance of the preached word was a valuable insight of and priority established in the Reformation and in the years since the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church…
by Allan R. Bevere One November many years ago, I was attending a conference in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. It was late in the afternoon on Sunday. I had bowed out of a couple of sessions to finish some paperwork in my hotel room. Time slipped away from me and when I finally took to…