A charge addressed to all of us, myself included
Last weekend I delivered the installation charge of my old friend Scott Black Johnston as he officially assumed the position of senior..
More Stories from this Author
Controversy over NPR comments forces out NAE lobbyist Cizik
(ABP) -- Backlash over comments about gay rights on a public-radio broadcast has apparently cost a prominent National Association of Evangelicals lobbyist his job.
Richard Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as NAE's vice president for governmental affairs, according to a statement posted Dec. 11 on the Web site of the umbrella group for evangelical churches, denominations, and parachurch ministries.
Holiday films: The (not so) significant
“Punisher: War Zone” — Pure comic book. This kind of pulp fiction features the evil criminal literally deformed (Dominic West as Jigsaw), and his deranged brother, Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison), terrorizing at will until The Punisher (Ray Stevenson) arrives on the scene, the indestructible vigilante who serves as self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner, just blasting away the bad guys.
Film in review “Doubt”
“Doubt” opens with the parish priest, Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) delivering a brief, eloquent homily about doubt. This is the 1950s, and the well-dressed, clean-scrubbed congregation sits in rapt attention, in part because Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the self-appointed behavior modifier.
“Doubt”
“Doubt” opens with the parish priest, Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) delivering a brief, eloquent homily about doubt. This is the 1950s, and the well-dressed, clean-scrubbed congregation sits in rapt attention, in part because Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the self-appointed behavior modifier.
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”
Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” a remake of the 1951 classic. Connelly plays Dr. Helen Benson, a scientist who is kidnapped by government agents in order to deal with an urgent emergency: a certain fast-moving object from space is going to collide with earth in an hour, and it appears to be on an irregular flight pattern — that is, guided. All attempts to intercept fail.
BREAKING NEWS: Cizik resigns NAE post after same-sex union remarks
Richard Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, following remarks he made in a radio interview that he is changing his views on same-sex unions.
Mary said yes
The coming of Christmas always presents us with a choice. Will we say “yes” and believe, or will we turn our backs and say “no.”
May had this choice, you know. When the angel appeared to this teenage girl and told her God’s plan was for her to be the Mother of God’s Son, she was distressed, because she wasn’t married and she was a virgin. She was also concerned about the possible reaction of her fiancé, Joseph.
Zimbabwe bishop calls for help in latest crisis, a cholera outbreak
(ekklesia) — Bishop Levee Kadenge says the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has crippled the nation. The bishop says his country is “under siege and full of distress.”
Kadenge is the national convener of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, which is supported by Christian Aid.
An Advent Reflection
As I have gotten older, I have shifted one hundred eighty degrees in my attitude toward the penitential seasons of Advent and..
60 years ago – December 20, 1948
An article, “Bethlehem --- The Christmas City”, tells the story of the Moravian beginnings of Bethlehem, Pa. “Our Christmas Prayer” poem (below)..
Celebrating Christmas in times of uncertainty, economic losses
Christmas is almost here — theologically a season of anticipation and then joy — many Americans are scared and worried. They’re afraid of losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings.
And through this Advent season, many congregations have been trying to find ways to respond to the stunning and swift economic downturn, as it reverberates through the lives of parishioners and their communities.
Contemplating the Infant Jesus
Whenever Mother Teresa would hear someone describe the order she founded as a community of “activists,” she would immediately correct them. She and the other members of the Missionaries of Charity were, she insisted, “contemplatives.” She would point out that whenever new persons joined her community they were required to spend weeks reading the Gospels and contemplating the Host, so that they might be able to recognize Jesus when they go out onto the streets to look for him “in His dreadful disguise among the poorest of the poor.”
American Red Cross veteran chosen to head PDA
[caption id="attachment_19971" align="alignright" width="144"]
James Ackley[/caption]LOUISVILLE — James (Randy) Ackley, whose 14 years with the American Red Cross (ARC) included heading up that agency’s response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, has been named coordinator for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance [www.pcusa.org/pda] (PDA) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He begins his new work here Dec. 15.
“Cadillac Records”
“Cadillac Records” is the story of a Chicago recording studio during the seminal days of the 1950s, when Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), a struggling nightclub owner, first recorded Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). And the rest, as they say, is musical history.
Losing Jesus
When my family moved from Atlanta to Columbia three years ago, we could identify only one thing lost in the move. Baby Jesus.
He was the centerpiece, obviously, of a hand-carved, olive wood crèche. Given to us by a friend after a trip to Israel and Palestine, the pieces came carefully wrapped in an Arabic newspaper. Although my husband and I each brought our own manger scenes into our marriage, this exquisitely beautiful one from the Holy Land quickly assumed the prominent place on the living room mantel.
Obituary: Alexei II: Russian Patriarch who saw in big changes
(ENI)--Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church, who died December 5 at the age of 79, will go down in history..
Mary’s Mercy Song
My son’s menacing mercy split followers —
cleaving them as a plow tears earth to hold seed —
foes too—as a hammer bursts rock to shard.
Judgment and discretion in giving, receiving
… always be rich enough to be generous ( II Cor. 9:11)
The New English Bible translates thusly Paul’s words about giving and wealth. In chapter nine, he writes about the provision of aid for some of his people, noting it is superfluous for me to write to you — the need being so obvious. Well, superfluous as we might wish it, we, like Paul, find it is necessary to write or call to get donations.
Amendment 08-B: Response to Wheeler, Loudon articles
On November 3, 2006, the Rev. Brent Dugan, beloved pastor of the Community Church of Ben Avon (Pa.) and devoted colleague of mine in Pittsburgh Presbytery, killed himself. A local TV station was poised to out him on the evening news as a gay man who was possibly violating the rules of his church. In this crisis, Brent was more willing to face God with Jesus at his side in death than to face us in Pittsburgh Presbytery.
Home
Home: by Marilynne Robinson. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. Hb., 336 pp., $25.
What happens when the celebration is over? When the fire has gone out and the food consumed; when the singing is over and silence descends upon the room, what happens in the morning? And not just the next morning but all the other mornings that come with ordinary regularity.
From joining to transforming
The congregation’s membership ministry starts with recruitment and retention, but it must push on to transformation.
Evangel season
'Tis the season for looking back
Celebrations, books, seminars mark Calvin’s anniversary in 2009
It must be at least whispered: in post-modern America, in an age of “spiritual but not religious,” the name of John Calvin isn’t often rolling off of people’s tongues. Tina Fey, yes. John Calvin, not so much.
Advent: Needed like never before
Churches large and small are good and ready for Advent this year.