A sense of church
Research fellow Monica A. Coleman considers the way that our senses are engaged at church and wonders how online church differs.
Chris Yaw Intervews Stephen Cady: Why 100% of Young People Dread the Sermon
When Princeton Seminary PhD candidate Stephen Cady embarked on research to discover where high school aged young adults find God in worship, he never expected nearly all the responses to say they don't. In this interview, Stephen unpacks the motives and messages behind this eye-opening research that will really help us better minister to and with younger people.
Darkwood Brew: Faith of Jesus in a Pluralistic World 1: The Way, the Truth and the Life
In this Darkwood Brew episode, Eric Elnes and Allen Hilton discuss the Faith of Jesus in a Pluralistic World. Part 1: The Way, the Truth and the Life. Watch it!
The Rev. Bill Flippin: They Disagree, Divide, and Double
Despite the realities of dwindling numbers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Spirit of God is on the move.
Carl McColman: Two Types of Spiritual Peace
"The peace that passes understanding" just might lead us to places that hardly seem serene.
Martin Copenhaver: God's Perfume
In scripture there are many descriptions of the kind of life we are to live. The Apostle Paul offers a particularly vivid image. He says we are to be "the aroma of Christ."
Dr. Greg Carey: Do Christians Who Are Against LGBT Misuse the Bible?
Hiding behind the Bible doesn't exempt us from responsibility for our beliefs and behaviors. The Bible is a complicated book. Using the Bible to condemn sexual minorities requires that people make a series of choices and assumptions. Let's examine those choices and assumptions.
David Lose: Heresy and Creativity
By and large, I’m a pretty orthodox guy. I like to play by the rules and, middle-child that I am, typically try to keep everyone happy. But…
Chuck Queen: Letting Go Is the Way to Grow
Rarely is our attachment just to our money or possessions. Our greed is inseparably bound up with all that money gives us: pleasure, power, position, prestige, and prominence in the community.
A Curious Creature
In looking into the past, we can even surprise ourselves, discovering our faults and mistakes, so we must learn to face our guilt, but then to let it go.
ELCA Celebrates 25 Years in 2013
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is celebrating its 25th anniversary beginning January 2013. Under the theme, "Always being made new" the 4.2 million-member church will embark on a year-long reflection on the people and events that have shaped this church and the life-changing ministries across the United States and overseas.
James Bond: Shake up your Church's Bible Studies
James a bondservant (James 1:1) and Ian Fleming's Seven Deadlier Sins
Carol Howard Merritt: Leading with Bold Imagination, Part 2
Montreat's Institute for Church Leadership is holding a Leading with Bold Imagination Conference. I'm the conference preacher, so they asked me a few questions.
AN ENCOURAGING WORD: "Until the Bell Rings"
It always seems strange to me that public school starts in mid-August. In the '30s and '40s school did not start until mid-September, or later because we had to pick cotton and gather corn. If we could not finish gathering the crops by the time school started, we changed into work clothes as soon as we got home from school and worked until dark. However some modern vacation-worn parents tell me they are glad to have school start in August!
Online and embodied
Research fellow Jim Rice considers an incarnational evaluation of social media.
ON Scripture: Dr. Walter Brueggemann on I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14: Who Will Be America's Next Leader?
The old king, David, is dead. It is time to pick his successor as king. In retrospect it seems obvious that his son, Solomon, was his rightful heir. In the moment, however, the matter of succession to the throne is highly contested.
Chris Yaw Interviews Dwight Moody: Let the Young People Preach!
Raising up the next generation of Christian leaders is something today’s church 1) needs, and 2) is not doing well – so says Dwight Moody, which is why he’s doing something rather substantial about it. Dwight runs The Academy of Preachers and says it’s the most ecumenical outfit in North America – attracting hundreds of young preachers from all Christian faith traditions to its many preaching events.
Ultimate Intimacy: A meditation on John 6:53-57
The Eucharist provides us with an unforgettable image of what Jesus deeply desires: to be totally a part of us, intimately integrated with us at the cellular level.
Anthony Robinson: Both/And - StillSpeaking Devotional
Galatians 6:2,5 says "Carry each other's burden and so fulfill the law of Christ . . . each one must carry their own load." Okay, Paul, which one is it?
Dr. Chuck Queen: Engaging Society: What Is the Church's Prophetic Calling?
Separation of church and state does not mean a separation of our faith from the political process. If the fallacy of some Christians, on one end of the spectrum, is to form an unholy alliance with the state, the fallacy of other Christians, on the other end of the spectrum, is to completely retreat and withdraw from all political engagement.