-
A New Security plugin added to site
I just added a new security plugin to the site as I noted several of our authors were having login attempts from foreign countries. I suggest you change your password to a complicated one. To authors — the lockout is set to 6 attempts of your password and the lockout period is set to 30 mins.. let me know if you are having problems. 1+
-
Cooling Down Discourse
Whew–my mouth burns today after a survey of my facebook feed. I feel like a need a sip of something cool to drink after some of the heated rhetoric I took in. Social media sizzles with conflict these days. These conflicts overflow into relationships, families and churches. A pandemic, racial unrest, elections in the U.S., disrupted governments in other countries all turn up the heat in conversations. I have witnessed un-civil discourse among families, friends and members of the body of Christ. John 17 records Jesus’s prayer for all believers. In John 17:20-23, the Savior prays for the unity of all believers. Why? Because their unity testifies to the world…
-
Racism: My Journey
Today I’m happy to host guest blogger Ver-lee Cheneweth. As a seminary student, I must complete two assignments to graduate—called an Agape Project—that blend biblical-theological learning with community service to cultivate growth in compassion. But I wondered what project I would do. Then on May 25, a 46-year-old Black man, George Floyd, died in police custody after allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. The videos from bystanders showing the white policeman, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, even while Mr. Floyd repeatedly cried, “I can’t breathe!” horrified me. I felt the rage over Mr. Floyd’s death, but I didn’t understand the…
You May Also Like
Honoring Spiritual Mothers
Work in Heaven?
Was the woman at the well a “bad girl?”
-
How to Embrace Necessary Change
Seasons of life change, careers change, organizations change, and relationships and friendships change. Change is—as they say—inevitable. How do you deal with change? Do you embrace it, reluctantly (and stubbornly) submit to it, or run full-speed in the opposite direction of it? I’m a loyal person by default. Perhaps you are as well. I’m loyal to good people, good organizations, and good products. There’s nothing wrong with loyalty per se, except when that loyalty exceeds the season for which that allegiance is needed. Thus I find I struggle with change. Well-known author, leadership coach, and clinical psychologist Dr. Henry Cloud believes that if we do not embrace necessary change (i.e.…
-
Book Review: “The Rage Against God” by Peter Hitchens
“In the names of reason, science, and liberty they [have] proved, rather effectively, that good societies need God to survive and that when you have murdered him, starved him, silenced him, denied him to the children, and erased his festivals and memory, you have a gap that cannot indefinitely be filled by any human, nor anything made by human hands…. [Yet] A new and intolerant utopianism seeks to drive the remaining traces of Christianity from Europe and North America. This time, it does so mainly in the cause of personal liberation, born in the 1960s cultural revolution, and now inflamed into special rage by any suggestion that the sexual urge…
-
Joseph’s dream
Genesis 37:1–4 and 12–28 are part of the lectionary readings for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, which is August 9th. The narrative concerning Joseph begins when he was a young man of 17. Joseph and some of his brothers were taking care of his father’s flocks (v. 2). The brothers had done something inappropriate while they were away from home tending the sheep. Joseph saw the wrongdoing and informed Jacob. Commentators take different views of Joseph’s action. Some censure him as a tattletale, while others commend him for acting as a conscientious son. Although the text doesn’t state it, the brothers undoubtedly felt bitterness toward their younger sibling because he…
-
Disarm
0
-
What Could Responses to Mask Wearing Tell Us About Ourselves?
Masks[1] were used in the 1600’s plague by doctors[2]and in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic by the public.[3] Meriam-Webster defines a mask as-a protective covering for the face; a comparable device to prevent exhalation of infectious material. Masks have been around for a long time. With COVID-19, the wearing of masks has resurfaced and has become a divisive topic among church goers. Both sides seem passionate about their choice. I have been a Christian for about 40 years and I have not witnessed a division like this before. Admittedly, school choices, hymn versus choruses, and vaccinations have caused some divisions. These topics might have been as divisive, but with time…
-
The faithfulness of God
Romans 9:1–5 is part of the lectionary readings for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, which is August 2nd. In chapters 1 through 3, Paul spoke about the responsibilities of Jews and Gentiles in light of the knowledge God had provided for each of them. Then, in chapters 9 through 11, the apostle advanced the preceding discussion by describing the roles each group would play in God’s plan of salvation. On the one hand, the Israelites had gloried in the fact that they were God’s chosen people (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 1 Kings 3:8). Yet, on the other hand, they had largely forsaken the Creator, and subsequently He gave believing Gentiles a…
-
In an Instant: Thoughts on Servanthood
Today I’m happy to host guest blogger Cathleen Howard. *** Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself. He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself (John 13:3–5, NET). The steaming water ran over my skin like a Dali painting. Warped and surreal. I stood dumbfounded at how quickly the past two weeks slid down the drain and out of…
-
Spiritual Warfare: The Right Tool for the Job
In seminary, I had a Greek professor that drilled a mantra into our heads. Every day he reminded us,“You must have the right tools for the job.” There was even a song and a video to further bring this point home. What he meant was, when parsing Greek verbs and drawing countless diagrams you must have the right study tools to get the job done. Not employing the right tool for such a job would leave you frustrated having wasted way too much time and energy. This mantra can be applied in almost any circumstance but I want to focus our attention on the necessary tools for the job of…
