Advertisement
Advertisement

Malaysian Christians urge government to ease Bible restrictions

SINGAPORE (ENI) — Christians in Malaysia have urged the government to lift restrictions to allow the distribution of Bibles in the local Bahasa Malaysia language and also to ease restrictions on a Roman Catholic newspaper effectively barred from publishing in the mother tongue of most of the country's Malay majority.

College Conference: John Lewis, Civil Rights leader, to college students: “Find your passion”

MONTREAT, N.C.—Rep. John Lewis, the Democratic congressman elected by the state of Georgia, felt his calling early in life. When he was 8 or 9 years old he began to preach in the chicken yard of his home in Troy, Ala.[caption id="attachment_20072" align="alignleft" width="225"]John Lewis, U.S. Congressman and veteran Civil Rights leader, spoke to students on Sunday, Jan. 4, during the annual College Conference at Montreat, OUTLOOK photo by Catherine Williams.John Lewis, U.S. Congressman and veteran Civil Rights leader, spoke to students on Sunday, Jan. 4, during the annual College Conference at Montreat, OUTLOOK photo by Catherine Williams.[/caption]

Campolo kicks off collegians’ conference

MONTREAT, N.C.—After months of planning meetings, Facebook campaigns, video blog posts and eager anticipation, the 2009 College Conference at Montreat Conference Center kicked off Friday in a very animated, and nearly full, Anderson Auditorium. Conferees greeted friends new and old as they swarmed into the first keynote session of the four-day conference on “Outrageous Generosity.” Students swayed and clapped to the soulful strains of “Wade in the Water,” played by a talented and as-yet-unnamed band from Nashville.

Reaching out to gay friends and family members

In the Dec. 2 edition of the Outlook we published the personal story of Ray Bagnuolo, an ordained, openly gay minister of Word and Sacrament.  Here we publish the personal story of a formerly lesbian church member and executive director of a ministry whose mission is “to equip and educate the church to minister the transforming grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who are in conflict with their sexuality.”

(Not so) common courtesy in church hiring practices

Christian churches and organizations are obligated at all levels to observe the highest standards in their employment recruitment policies. When Presbyterian institutions take the low road in  methods to hire new employees, church officers should be gravely concerned.

A world mission glimpse from Tegucigalpa, Honduras

We were gathering in the chapel of the Heifer Project retreat center just north of Tegucigalpa. The Honduran pastors mingled around and started discussing the construction of the small building in which we were meeting. Pastor Fernando started pointing out to me, partially in Spanish and partially with elaborate hand gestures, the differences in the type of bricks used in the wall. Not having an eye or any experience in such things, I had not noticed the difference. But when Fernando pointed it out, the differences were quite obvious.

A providential moment

My future is to do God’s will. For a long time I had felt out of touch with God. I felt that I am not of any use to Him. I have been very sick with migraine headaches and in great pain a good portion of that time. The only thing I could do was lie around the house and read all the theology and history books I could get my hands on.

New Year’s Commentary: Even amid the darkness, our spirit is unquenchable

In the midst of life, we are in death. Three Royal Marines, young men with everything to live for, were approached by a 13-year-old boy who was pushing a wheelbarrow. Seconds later, they were all reduced to flying body parts. One moment they were vibrantly alive, the next moment their lives were over. The human wreckage from the blast included the devastation visited upon their loved ones.

Reading Calvin in ‘09

James C. Goodloe IV, executive director of the Foundation for Reformed Theology in Richmond, Va., has a suggestion for reading in the New Year  — John Calvin.

How my mind was changed

I rejoiced when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was given the authoritative interpretation that precluded homosexual participation in the ministry of the church in 1978. I thought the issue was settled once and for all. I continued my smugness for more than twenty years when the denomination repeatedly confirmed that interpretation. I was simply so certain that I never read any of the literature being produced about the issue.

Reworking the call process

The pastor of the church we attend is leaving. She was with our church for five years. This is becoming the average tenure for pastors. The Session asked members to stay after church to talk about the future. 

The right questions, the right answers

There are at least two great theological questions. First, “What is the truth about God?” and second, “How shall we live as a result?” The Apostle Paul typically opened his letters with declarations regarding theology and then taught the church how to live as a result of those truths, both as individuals and as the body of Christ. 

LATEST STORIES

Advertisement