By: Sam Stephens on February 14, 2014
This blog is written and posted from Goerlitz/Zgorzelec one of the most beautiful and well preserved European cities I have been in, bordering Germany and Poland with the river Neisse separating the two. On the banks of this river rise two tall steeples of St. Peter’s and Paul’s Church, construction of which dates back to…
By: Julie Dodge on February 14, 2014
There’s a new pope in town and he’s making a splash. Time magazine named him Person of the Year for 2013. So did The Advocate, a magazine focused on lesbian and gay issues. What’s the big deal about Pope Francis II? Perhaps it is the fact that he ditched the red shoes, the papal mansion,…
By: Carol McLaughlin on February 14, 2014
Public theology, civil theology and private theology resemble intersections that connect with one another. But rather than a convergence of streets into a shared one way space, such as Trafalgar Square in London or traffic roundabouts designed to ease traffic flow in urban spaces, these resemble networks with hubs linking one to the other. It…
By: Richard Volzke on February 14, 2014
Apologetics and Theology This week’s readings reminded me of the apologetics courses that I took at Wesley Biblical Seminary. The section from Speaking of God in Public, by Graham, Walton, and Ward, reminded me of a book that I have previously read by Groothuis, called Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Both of…
By: Fred Fay on February 14, 2014
Interacting with popular culture as a Christian has been an interesting journey. In the church of my youth we couldn’t dance, drink alcohol or go to movies and a few other abominations. We looked at pop culture with suspicion. When I was in middle school a friend asked if I had heard the song “I’m…
By: Ashley Goad on February 13, 2014
I grew up in North Carolina in a traditional Southern culture. Shrimp and grits, homemade biscuits, sweet tea, ladies in pearls and men in seersucker suits were everyday, normal ways of life. Religion and politics were “no-no’s” at dinner parties, and everyone always dressed in their Sunday best to go to Meeting for worship. And…
By: Richard Rhoads on February 13, 2014
This past week a good friend of Naomi and I lost their mom to cancer. In preparation to go to Costa Rica for a wedding, she wanted to have some upper chest issues looked at by her family Dr.. From that first appointment, hospitalization and diagnosis till today, it has been less than a month. …
By: Phil Smart on February 13, 2014
A new sermon series on the Holy Spirit began last weekend called “Catching Fire…Every revolution begins with a spark,” based on the Hunger Games books and movies. The pastor briefly summarized the movie and how one person can infect a whole population and in this case, create a revolution. He went on to discuss how…
By: Sharenda Roam on February 13, 2014
Our readings this week consist of several writings examining the topics of popular culture, technology, media, theology, and religion. One aspect I found intriguing was the study of how popular culture affects religion, and specifically Christianity in the United States. Forbes and Mahan, in their book Religion and Popular Culture in America ask the following…
By: Chris Ellis on February 13, 2014
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m skeptical of an online church, which is one reason I’ve chosen to reflect on Tim Hutchings article entitled Online Christian Churches: Three Case Studies. I’m skeptical because I really do believe in church. I believe that we’re better together than we are apart. I believe that the…
By: Deve Persad on February 13, 2014
When the apostle Paul stood among the statues and idols in the city of Athens, he took some time to understand not only his physical surroundings but, more importantly the people within that particular surrounding. He had a message that he needed to transmit, but he first needed to get some clarity about the frequency…
By: Garrick Roegner on February 13, 2014
My cell is ringing No ID I need to know who’s calling My garden’s overgrown I go out on my belly crawling I got CCTV, pornography, CNBC I got the nightly news To get to know the enemy -U2, Fast Cars This week as a D.Min cohort we have been pondering the intersection of theology,…
By: Becky Stanley on February 10, 2014
A recent trend among Indian Christian brides in India, much to my dislike, is the preference for the western wedding gown replacing the elegant ethnic wear. While on the surface the issue seems trivial and can be argued as a matter of personal choice, I believe that several other trends pertaining to the nuances between…
By: Mark Steele on February 8, 2014
Mark Noll’s book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind caused fervor of controversy amongst Evangelicals when he said in his opening sentence “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind (3).” He goes on to say that he is a wounded lover of the mind and the…
By: Sam Stephens on February 8, 2014
Mark Noll’s book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind and a sequel titled Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind traces the decline of intellectualism in the Evangelical world of the United States and how a deep commitment to Jesus Christ must drive the Church to embrace intellectual exercises rather than withdrawa from it.…
By: Richard Rhoads on February 8, 2014
It was a cold raining night in the ER. I had just worked two back to back shifts at the trauma center and was entering into a third. On top of an exhaustive day, it was full moon. Now before you say anything, nights at the hospital in which the moon was also full, were…
By: Raphael Samuel on February 8, 2014
My first knowledge of the “term evangelical” came during early days of my conversion, as I began mingling in Christian circles. Evangelical was actually the name of a Christian denomination. As a young believer the differences between the, denomination of which I was a member and the evangelical denomination, were made expressively clear. It…
By: John Woodward on February 8, 2014
“We are New Testament Christians. We have no creed but Christ. Where the Bible speaks, we speak. Where the Bible is silent, we are silent.” And so went the basic beliefs of the church I attended during my college years and for many years after. Each foundational statement sounded really good. But, something was amiss.…
By: Carol McLaughlin on February 8, 2014
As I reached the later stages of D.W. Bebbington’s insightful look into Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s I felt as if I was glimpsing into the past to see and understand the present. I related to the history and development of Evangelicalism through my experience growing up in…
By: Richard Volzke on February 7, 2014
Evangelicalism David Bebbington’s book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, traces the history of the evangelical movement in Britain from the 1700’s through the 1980’s. I appreciate how the author describes the different nuances of evangelicalism that have been found throughout the history of English culture from the time of John Wesley through the 20th century. Bebbington…
