By: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 27, 2015
The impact of western secularism has great implications for Christianity and social change in Ethiopia. The reality of globalization and the ever-growing cultural exchange between Western and developing countries, like Ethiopia, makes the impact of modernity inevitable. Unarguably, there are benefits of being connected with everyone and everything but we need to pay attention to…
By: Brian Yost on February 26, 2015
As a red-blooded American, I grew up with a certain understanding of life. America was the greatest country on earth, blessed by God and hard work, and everybody wanted to be like us. Our military was the best in the world and every war we every fought was righteous, defending freedom and fighting oppression. Our…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on February 26, 2015
We have all encountered them. Those individuals, that, as you attempt to share a loving personal God with them, simply replied back that they believe a god may have been instrumental in the whole creation of the universe. They concede that this god may have implemented natural laws that currently guide said universe with a…
By: John Woodward on February 26, 2015
The movie The Theory of Everything is an inspirational story about Stephen Hawking’s life and is rich in juxtapositions. One such juxtaposition is the development and growth of Hawking’s mind and thinking as he body rapidly weakened. Another is Hawking’s rational, mathematical view of the universe contrasted with his deep passion for music, his family,…
By: Liz Linssen on February 26, 2015
“The number of Christians in Communist China is growing so steadily that it by 2030 it could have more churchgoers than America.” [i] According to Taylor, the battle of our time is “between neo- and post-Durkheimiam construals of our condition, between different forms of religion and spirituality.”[ii] He explains how “the gamut of beliefs in…
By: Michael Badriaki on February 26, 2015
Humanity continues to be impacted by ideas from religion and culture. It is difficult to distinguish religious practice from the culture in which it emerges. Why pinpoint at the two categorizes and not others like banking, the modern biomedical enterprise and so forth? I believe that they are all inseparably intertwined but while studying…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on February 26, 2015
I came across an interesting article this week in the massive amount of reading I am doing these days. I forget the name of the article (not a good research practice) but it took me to a link where a recent speech by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was given. The nature of the article was…
By: Deve Persad on February 26, 2015
Over the last few months, it has been a privilege for me (on an interim basis) to be part of the youth ministry of our church family. One of the goals for my involvement has been to challenge our youth to develop critical and biblical thinking within the world they live. It’s been an exciting…
By: Nick Martineau on February 26, 2015
Max Weber’s classic book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was a book I heard referred to often but had never gotten my hands on. I kind of understood the premise going in but it wasn’t until actually holding my book (actually two books because it’s not just the older cohort members that…
By: Dave Young on February 25, 2015
What? Did Webner really say “Protestants… have shown a special tendency to develop economic rationalism which cannot be observed to the same extent among Catholics”.[i] Isn’t he saying – Protestants work better then Catholics? After my initial double take, I was intrigued. How will this German sociologist make the case that Protestantism is a contributing…
By: Mary Pandiani on February 24, 2015
I see a play in Seattle that creates quite a conversation between the four of us who attend. Later, someone asks me, “A good play?” While I didn’t particularly enjoy it musically, I say “yes,” with the idea that the play causes great dialogue over the thematic issues. The greatness of a book, a play,…
By: Miriam Mendez on February 22, 2015
Several years ago I attended a conference in Seattle, Washington that focused on Christian conversations with “the lost.” One segment of the conference included interviewing people who Christians consider “lost.” When it was time to interview one of the “lost” guests the organizer asked her, “How do you feel when you are referred to as…
By: rhbaker275 on February 22, 2015
It is a well know statistic that a large majority of the congregations in North America are plateaued and many are in decline. Plateau is defined as “little or no change … relatively stable level or position … a level of attainment or achievement.”[1] I am in my second year as a staff pastor in…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 21, 2015
Ethiopia, a nation where diversity of religions and cultures was seen as a national threat, has now ensured the equal rights of all religions before the law. As a result, Protestant Christian churches in the urban settings received acceptance, whereas in regional settings Protestant minorities are usually excluded from social and economic life. In spite…
By: Michael Badriaki on February 21, 2015
Charles Taylor’s book A Secular Age is a remarkable and ambitious study which explores the world of religions dating back to the 1500 and they coexist in the present times for both adherents of faith and non-believers. With the ongoing discussions of religious affairs in the media and the swelling realities of wars surrounded by…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on February 20, 2015
Charles Taylor is a god! Well, perhaps I’m being a bit extreme. However upon reading his Magnus Opus entitled A Secular Age, I was once again reminded why I like his writing so much. Like a skilled wordsmith he’s able to take volumes of information and produce a literary treatise that delineates the historical record…
By: Bill Dobrenen on February 20, 2015
Family. The word itself can bring different emotions to different people, depending of their own experience. Why is it that many times children raised in Christian homes end up choosing to leave the sacred and enter a more secular existence? I wonder that myself, especially since I have two grown children who have experienced this…
By: Richard Volzke on February 20, 2015
“Science can purify religion from error and superstition;
religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.
Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish….
We need each other to be what we must be, what we are called to be.” (Pope John Paul II) The argument…
By: John Woodward on February 20, 2015
January 3, 1825, Robert Dale Owen bought the entire town of New Harmony, Indiana. His goal was to set up his perfect society based on “the principles of the sciences by which a superior character can be formed…and by which a superfluity of wealth can be created and secured for all without injury of any.”[1](59)…
By: Carol McLaughlin on February 20, 2015
We seem to be in an “age” where people give up something for a year or they do something for a year. In our recent past this has included a year of living biblically, a year of living like Jesus, and a year of biblical womanhood.[1] A recent incarnation of this “one-year” application was implemented…
