By: Jer Swigart on March 16, 2020
I had just arrived at the dinner table this evening, having finished up my reading of Katia Adams’ Equal and Lucy Peppiatt’s Rediscovering Scripture’s Vision for Women. Both are remarkable works that, through careful exegesis, conclude that women and men are uniquely suited for equal roles of leadership and authority in the life of the…
By: John Muhanji on March 16, 2020
Growing up in a family that was the first generation of Christian converts after the missionaries arrived in the Eastern part of Africa. We grew up with the do and don’ts principle of Christianity. We had good and bad morals. Bad morals were punishable by God, and that was a sin. We have grown up…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on March 16, 2020
Sorry so late this week. It’s been a week of reflection and trepidation for me, so I am on tenuous ground. It’s a topsy-turvy world out there and trying to navigate these waters is both confusing and disheartening. I have additional fears with regards to this coronavirus situation, because all my kids are in the…
By: Shermika Harvey on March 16, 2020
Just as plants need sun, water, and good soil to thrive, people need love, work, and connection to something larger. That something larger might take various forms, but a sense of connection to God is it’s most visceral incarnation. And that kind of connectivity is hard to replicate. [1] Times are changing. People are no…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on March 15, 2020
It was challenging to find a non-Christian review of McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. While I did not do an exhaustive search, I landed upon Mark Ward’s review. Ward initially approached McLaughlin’s work, thinking it was written from a non-Christian perspective. He quickly became impressed with her grounded (an…
By: Digby Wilkinson on March 15, 2020
An important opening question. Did you know that Corona Beer sales have dropped by 55% in the United States? In New Zealand, sales are up for the same brew because some of us see it as a temporary vaccine to the virus of the same name. It’s a great theory and we are sticking to…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on March 14, 2020
(*Disclaimer: COVID-19 consumed my week with work causing this post to be late and not as well developed as I would like.) Observing white Evangelicalism in America for several decades I’m curious as to what causes many in this group to become fierce activists on two main topics while seemingly turning their heads away from…
By: Wallace Kamau on March 14, 2020
When the deal seems “too good to be true, be cautious” is a common warning used which is meant to help you be more vigilant and diligent before committing yourself. In formal management, it has been christened ‘Due Diligence’ which is a diligent, thorough and a deeper scrutiny of things or a matter, to be…
By: Rhonda Davis on March 14, 2020
I began reading Confronting Christianity at the start of a Spring Break trip with my family this week. I was excited for this hopeful, accessible book after several weeks of heavy, difficult reading. However, little did I know, I would be spending a large share of this week in hours of video chats, conference calls,…
By: Sean Dean on March 13, 2020
I am going to admit right up front that I did not read this week’s book. My life has been consumed by the virus. Thankfully no one in my family has contracted it yet, but pretty much every other part of our lives have been disrupted by it. If you are not aware, western Washington…
By: Karen Rouggly on March 12, 2020
“Perhaps the key to facing suffering is not detachment and removal, but meaning and love. Nonattachment may shield us from suffering. To love is to be vulnerable. To desire and strive is to risk disappointment. But has Haidt notes, non-attachment also deprives us of our greatest joys. Striving, desire, and deep attachment can lead us…
By: Jenn Burnett on March 12, 2020
Identity is both a now and a not yet. It is an unfolding narrative rather than a fixed entity. “[A] coherent, well-integrated sense of identity provides a frame of reference for dealing with questions about the meaning, purpose, and direction of one’s life.”[1] But the question of how that identity is determined and in particular…
By: Harry Edwards on March 12, 2020
Rebecca McLaughlin’s book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion is a breath of fresh air in the world of Christian Apologetics. It is refreshing in many ways but particularly for two reasons: (1) it is a written by a female; (2) with close ties to the UK Evangelical context. These reasons…
By: Andrea Lathrop on March 12, 2020
Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion poses difficult enquiries for the Christian faith and offers thoughtful responses. Her hope is that skeptics would read it and be disarmed by the honest look at Christianity’s greatest criticisms. She is unafraid of their closer consideration and wholeheartedly believes Christianity remains the…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on March 12, 2020
Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin gives us a fascinating read this week in Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard questions for the World’s Largest Religion. I actually read this over Christmas break and had outlined my blog post, making a marked, yet lively reference to Ryan Dunn of MTV fame. However, the recent COVID 19 news, and how the…
By: Chris Pollock on March 11, 2020
First Pain Summer Camp was a wonderland for me as a kid; it holds some of my first and fondest memories. The early 80s, I was free to fly. I wasn’t held back from any place, unless it was after bedtime and I ran like the wind everywhere I went. To the field to play…
By: Greg Reich on March 11, 2020
One of the biggest benefits about living in the state of Washington has to be the ability to enjoy the diverse outdoor experience. Whether it is the beauty of our majestic Mt. Rainier and the Cascade Mountains or the many miles of sandy beaches, there is plenty to see and enjoy. Other than kiting, one…
By: Darcy Hansen on March 10, 2020
“Sweet Jesus, free me.” Five years ago, these words, birthed from Spirit, emerged from the depths of my being and were spoken into what seemed to be a dark empty void of space. But like the creation narrative, when Spirit combines with Word, new things happen. Over time, this open-handed, full-of-trust prayer has been answered…
By: Shawn Cramer on March 10, 2020
To imagine “that which could be” requires a new way of thinking – new wineskins. The status quo is a direct result of the current modus operandi, or to quote the oft used leadership adage, “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” It’s helpful to employ a Greek concept here: that…
By: Steve Wingate on March 10, 2020
This book is part of Walker’s Undefended Leader trilogy. It includes concepts that on many levels help leaders become more self-aware so that they can become a more comprehensive leader. Walker is not only an author about leadership, but he is also a clergyman, who finds in Jesus Christ the most remarkable example that “power…
