(ABP) — We are pro-life evangelical Christians with long records of ministry and scholarship in which we have stood up for the unborn and for a society in which every child is welcomed into life and provided the opportunity to flourish.
October 2006 was a great time for the European Ryder Cup team. Do you remember?
After reading reports from the Episcopal Church’s recent General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., I was reminded that church conventions aren’t “the church,” any more than Congress is “the nation.”
While watching a recent tribute to Michael Jackson, referred to by many as the King of Pop, I realized that Jackson bore, in his life, much resemblance to King David of the Bible.
(ABP) -- Dear Jesus, Everyone seems to be talking about the poll put out last week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
I went to the movies recently to be entertained and I ended up being spiritually inspired.
James Calvin Davis explores sports, theology, and culture, arguing that football can reveal divine beauty, virtue, and human creativity.
Mark 11:1-11
This story it set within the bounds of Mark’s overall narrative of Jesus’ passion;
On the bulletin board in the choir room at the Pasadena Church, there was a poster with a line drawing of someone in a choir robe and the caption: “The one who sings prays twice.”
Editor’s Note: The OUTLOOK reported recently that the membership losses that have been shrinking mainline denominations now appear to be impacting the Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists.
Mark 8:31-38
Editor’s Note: This devotional is the second of seven to run in the Outlook in observance of the 2009 Lenten season. They are based on the lectionary texts for each week.
The presbyteries are beginning to debate and vote again on the controversial “fidelity-and-chastity statement” in our Book of Order (G-6.0106b).
Mark 1:9-15
Editor’s Note: This devotional is the first of seven to run in the Outlook in observance of the 2009 Lenten season. They are based on the lectionary texts for each week.
Reading and reflecting on Erwin C. Barron’s three-part essay on the perennial controversy over ordination of gay and lesbian pastors — (November 10, 17 and 24, 2008 issues of The Presbyterian Outlook), as well as subsequent related letters from readers — has been a discouraging experience for this observer. A highly contentious vote of the presbyteries is coming, and a basis for genuine consensus does not exist. No matter which side “wins” the presbytery balloting in coming months, the issue will not be settled and will not go away. It seems probable that continuing contention in the short term will only delay the adoption of a widely accepted way forward, but that forbearance in the short term could favor success over time.
I was five when I was baptized. I don't know why they waited, but one Sunday my parents took me and my little brother to the local Presbyterian Church. I vividly remember standing in front of the congregation, excited, knowing something very special was happening but entirely unsure of what it was. An elder from the Session gave us each a tiny embroidered rainbow as a reminder of God’s Covenant. It still hangs in my childhood room in my parents’ home.
The media have been full of stories and commentaries on the water landing of a US Airways passenger jet that resulted in no fatalities, and few serious injuries. Often, almost too often, the outcome of this potential mass tragedy has been proclaimed to be a miracle. One commentator said that the happy ending was the result of a series of small miracles.
Two recent and very ordinary events have set me thinking about a New Year’s resolution that might just be worthwhile for us..
She was birdlike and petite, with a hawk nose and an attractive smile. She was routinely mocked in parliament by big angry men shouting "Go back to Moscow" or "Go back to Israel." Yet this indomitable Jewish woman could make strong men tremble. Oh, and she helped break down the walls of apartheid in South Africa.
Where better to turn for a source of New Year’s resolutions than the Ten Commandments? Martin Luther’s exposition of the Eighth Commandment*..
From the time of Christ, his followers have struggled to recreate a wholesome life and community that reconciles each of us to one another and to God. Instead of reconciliation, however, we frequently find ourselves trapped by circumstances that limit our capacities to be free to love, to live a life rich with possibilities, and instead, find ourselves isolated and broken.
“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.
(ABP) -- On Nov. 12, in a front-page story, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the news that the Georgia Baptist Convention has approved a new policy giving GBC executives the freedom to refuse donations from churches it finds to be out of step with Southern Baptist beliefs. The policy move is aimed (for now) at First Baptist Church Decatur, because it called a woman, Julie Pennington-Russell, to serve as pastor.
I had been pondering it all summer, but it didn’t hit me full force until I saw it juxtaposed so starkly. There, lying on my nightstand, were two bookmarks. Not exactly earth shaking, I hear you say. True.
After a blood-gushing fight to the end, a 389-year-old U.S. monster perished Nov. 4, 2008.
Yes, American slavery finally expired.
Of course, in 1865, when most states ratified the 13th Amendment, Congress had declared it dead. Mississippi's legislature was the holdout, managing to delay ratification until 1995!
(RNS) NEW YORK — Here in America’s financial capital, Sunday (Sept. 14) was normal in most respects. Streets were filled with shoppers, parks with strollers and picnickers, and homes with people watching the Jets lose and the Giants win. But our always-on communications brought a steady stream of sobering news from emergency talks on Wall Street.
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