To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Daniel E. Sickles (1819-1914) considered himself one tough guy. As a New York City politician in the 1850s he was involved in a number of public scandals. When he learned that his young bride was having an affair with Philip Barton Key II (the son of Francis Scott Key, who had penned the words… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It’s no surprise that author and pastor Tim Keller, who spent decades leading a congregation in Manhattan, often heard the question, “Does God really exist?” But in his conversations with New Yorkers he heard another question even more frequently: “If God is a God of love, why can’t he just forgive everybody?” The Christian… Read more »
Throughout the month of August, we’re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament. They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible’s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be “in Christ.” Several years ago, I decided to surprise Mary Sue by cleaning out the drain in our shower. I removed the… Read more »
Throughout the month of August, we’re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament. They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible’s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be “in Christ.” Ten years after the end of World War II, a pair of peacemakers approached a group of Christians in… Read more »
For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter. Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. It’s possible that the two most poignant words in… Read more »
For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter. Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. On New Year’s Day 1929, Roy Riegels made one… Read more »
For a number of years, psychologist Henry Cloud led a support group for inpatients at a hospital who were struggling with addictions and other vexing life issues. In his book How People Grow, Cloud specifically recalls one of the group members whom we’ll call Joe. Joe was a pastor tormented by a sex addiction. He preached passionately about God’s grace. … Read more »
Throughout Lent, we’re exploring the parables of Jesus – the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God’s rule on earth. Father Elias Chacour describes himself as a “Palestinian-Arab-Christian-Israeli.” At one time or another, as bishop of the Greek Catholic Church in northern Israel, he has needed to call on each of… Read more »
Throughout Lent, we’re exploring the parables of Jesus – the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God’s rule on earth. Did you hear about the guy named Bubba who called 911 because his wife was going into labor? “Please send an ambulance,” he said, “because I can’t get my truck started. … Read more »
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? That famous question presents what is called a causality dilemma. We know that all chickens are hatched from eggs, and that all chicken eggs are laid by chickens. So which is the cause and which is the effect? Aristotle, writing four centuries before Christ, admitted he was stumped. He concluded that the… Read more »