The Christian narrative is a call to be dispossessed. The desire to possess is one of the greatest manifestations of fear in the world today. The desire to possess is what leads us to so much violence ... Daily newspapers (are full) of ample testimony to the gravity...
04109 – Obey Men or Obey God?
If religious patriarchy was true, the angel of the Lord would have spoken first to Manoah about the miraculous conception of Samson. Instead, he spoke to Manoah’s wife—a woman—alone (Judges 13:2-24). If religious patriarchy was true, the angel Gabriel would have...
01518 – Humility: At the Heart of Christian Mission
Missiologist Lamin Sanneh says that humility is at the heart of Christian mission because this faith--unlike "spirituality"--must be received from another. No one is born into this faith. Nobody stumbles upon it after walking in the woods or rummaging around in one's...
01143 – Remembering Hymns Aids Healing
For many believers--and even communities of faith--congregational song has played an important role in shaping the content of faith and in facilitating the remembering of that faith. It has been a recurring testimony that in times of sorrow, crisis, or need, assurance...
00889 – Musical Tastes & Diversity
The New Testament churches were made up of people of different ages, genders, races and socio-economic levels, who came together because of their common belief in Jesus. Christ gave them their identity and, consequently, their unity. In an era of marketing...
00621 – God’s Stamp of Approval Upon Jesus
When Jesus told Peter to put his sword away and then faced his accusers and confronted death without violence, Jesus was living out the way that the reign of God confronts evil. The resurrection of Jesus, God’s act in history to overcome the ultimate enemy—death—puts...
00293 – Becoming Ourselves Through Storytelling
Now testimony is…”who we are and who we are becoming.” Our stories no longer tell tales of spiritual acquiescence and conformity. Rather, they tell of finding meaning, finding unique selves, and finding God in a confusing and chaotic world. Contemporary thinkers have...