How Do Church Leaders Help People Deal with Challenges?
Like trees, people grow stronger when faced with moderate stress. Part of your job at church is to frame the challenges at hand for those you lead.
Dr. Greg Carey: Paul Did Not Invent Christianity
It's not rare to encounter people who claim that Paul "invented" Christianity. The basic idea is that Jesus taught a pure and ethical form of Judaism that focused on God and gracious living, while Paul developed a religion that worshiped Jesus rather than God.
Dr. Thomas Lane Butts: Be Clear When Agreeing
Specificity is an essential ingredient of any agreement. After more than a half a century as a pastoral counselor, I have learned how important it is for parties to an agreement to spell out the details before signing on the dotted line. As the familiar saying goes, "The devil is in the details".
ON Scripture: Dr. Walter Brueggemann on Joshua 24
This week’s text, Joshua 24: 1-3a, 14-25, features a great dramatic meeting as the culmination of arriving in the land of promise. Read Dr. Walter Brueggemann's lectionary reflections.
Bishop Mark Hanson: Christ's Church, Not Ours
We care deeply about the church, we serve it faithfully and generously, we are troubled when we believe it has erred, and we delight when the light of Christ shines bright. Therefore, it is understandable that almost unknowingly we begin to think and act as if the church is ours.
David Crumm Interviews Jana Riess: "Flunking Sainthood"
David Crumm interviews Jana Riess””the well-known journalist and author””who spent a year discovering and now is sharing the experience for the rest of us in a delightful new memoir "Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor."
Dr. Jamie Jenkins: Our Quarreling and Contentiousness Can Diminish Our Influence
People of faith should be passionate about things that matter but we can still be respectful and gracious towards those with whom we disagree.
John Philip Newell: 11/11/11: Our Instinct for Unity
On Nov. 11 in Austin we will especially pray for peace between the religious households of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. We will use words from the Quran, the Hebrew Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus to chant for an end to hostilities.
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori - Are You Looking for God's Glory?
Have you ever seen God’s glory passing by? The beauty of autumn can be like that, as dying leaves go out in a blaze of glory.
Bruce Reyes-Chow: If I Were Mayor of Seminarytownville
It’s been a long time since I graduated from seminary, 1995 to be exact. Much has changed in the world: recent generations have lived a life that I can’t fully comprehend, the landscape of American Christianity has changed and the church continues to play catch-up in finding ways to share its faith and tradition.
Greg Garrett: America Is Scared of Itself
A new book reveals how the monsters of the American imagination are also the monsters of its history.
Carol Howard Merritt: The Pastor as Writer
For three months, I’m immersing myself in the art of letters. It was as if my words needed to breathe and I’m relearning the beauty of the page.
My Bleeding Heart
As a Progressive Christian married to a police lieutenant in Atlanta, I am working hard to synthesize my love and loyalty in the Occupy movement.
Dr. Thomas Lane Butts - Chasing the Wind (Part 3)
We have all done some running. Perhaps we will do some more. Run if you must, for there are some aspects of truth and insight that are too hard for the average person to face without doing some back-peddling.
ON Scripture: Dr. Walter Brueggemann on Jeremiah 31:31-34
Noted theologian Dr. Walter Brueggemann begins a four-part series for the ON Scripture lectionary resource by focusing on Jeremiah 31:31-34.
How Can You Make It Easier to Talk about Money at Church, Part 2
Here are some more thoughts on making it easier to talk about money at church.
Roy Lloyd: Reality TV or Worship?
People should attend worship services, not be participants in a reality TV show that turns a spiritual occasion into a commercial one.
Carol Howard Merritt: Negotiating Our Notions of Self
It occurred to me as I was talking about the situation in which many young adults find themselves, that we might need a new definition of selfhood. Right now, it seems that we define ourselves by our independence and our careers.
Blindsided
How to recover from the blows you never saw coming.
This Week's Psalm: Rising Above Stress (Ps. 107)
Psalm 107 reminds us that when we are burdened by stress and anxiety in life, God's steadfast love offers a way to rise above it.