Much of American theology, high and low, seems devoted to making Christianity unthreatening to our base desires, our culture and our economy. This project is nothing less than a denial of God.
Much of American theology, high and low, seems devoted to making Christianity unthreatening to our base desires, our culture and our economy. This project is nothing less than a denial of God.
The mistreatment of women is one of the longest-running forms of human wickedness in our history and culture, down to the present. But Christianity ought to be a wellspring of egalitarianism.
If it's true that by justice God means something diametrically opposed to our understanding of that word, what, then, are we to make of Jesus when he talks about love?
I was amazed, not to say a little disgusted, to find that Haggard is going to have a role in an upcoming pro-abstinence movie.
Individuals who return to integrity may find themselves forever stigmatized, set apart, and not welcomed back into relationship and community. Sometimes the harshest critics are themselves lacking integrity.
The message from the mainstream faith community is clear -- the economic agenda pushed by religious right political operatives is extreme, and it contradicts Christian moral values.
I feel it is important to be able to ask questions when we see someone in our churches do something we disagree with. But it is also important to be able to forgive.
I'm pretty religious and knew that "The Tree of Life" tackled what are sometimes ominously called "Big Questions" about religion. But I was unprepared for the power of the film, which is like living inside a prayer.
What else do we need to trust God for? If he has prepared a place for us for then, what about now? If we are willing to trust about our death, what about our life now?
As New York -- and all of America -- approaches the tenth anniversary of 9/11 there are legitimate fears that Islamophobia may re-emerge as a response.
As arranged by the Abraham Path's local partners, I ate with people, slept in their homes, visited their schools, viewed their factories and fields, and talked with them about their beliefs, frustrations, hopes and desires.
Have we, as American pastors, given up our calling as shepherds and unknowingly become fast food entrepreneurs who are building a religious business and not a church?
Jesus could have suggested we make peace with our enemies or negotiate peace agreements or peacefully resolve conflict. Instead, he entreated them to go further: to "love" them.
Reed, I suspect, has his eyes on the Holy Grail of conservative politics: figuring out a way to unite evangelical conservatives with Tea Party conservatives.
I hate what Tressel did. I hate that he lied. But even more, I hate that I put him in a position to break my heart so much. He should never have been there in the first place.
Wouldn't we do better to ask why the apocalypse is so compelling? What is it about the times we live in that would make rational people accept the idea that the end of the world was upon us?
Two Portland men were attacked just over a week ago -- for holding hands -- in the dark of night. Those who attacked them broke the law to be certain but they also committed a sin against God.
May 31, 2011 marked my final day as the pastor of Mission Bay Community Church and this post will be the last time, for a while, that I'll focus on my...
There is a never ending parade of financial and religious follies. This does not mean that one should have nothing to do with money or religion. Here are five questions to ask in the religious arena.
We honored our interfaith son's transition to adolescence with the essence of the Bar Mitzvah (reading from the Torah and Shabbat prayers), but also included elements drawn from his Christian heritage.
As the interim pastor of Peace Lutheran, I stay in Joplin only three days a week, commuting from my home in Kansas City, Mo. So I rode out the tornado in the motel basement. The motel was south of the storm's path.