Recently I heard a pastor describing his efforts to reach marginalized people in his community with the good news. He cited this story and made a startling statement: “Sometimes in order to get people to Jesus you have to mess with the structure.” These entrepreneurial men didn’t let propriety stand in their way! They messed, quite literally, with the structure.
John E. Phelan Jr.
What Is a Reformation Church?
Last summer I worked my way through a massive biography of Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, his ill-fated son Edward VI, and, briefly, Henry’s oldest daughter, Mary.
Justice or Mercy
This summer a controversy raged over the White House administration’s decision to separate children from parents at border crossings from Mexico into the United States. People were outraged that young children were incarcerated, away from their parents, in circumstances characterized by some as “prisons” and others as “concentration camps.”
The Thumb of Fear
I love poetry. Nearly every morning I read one or more poems to begin my day. I love the evocative images and startling metaphors. Poets have a way of bringing us up short, of making us look at an overly familiar world anew.
Will Evangelicalism Die with Billy Graham?
American church historians trace the beginning of the evangelical movement to the early ministry of Billy Graham. His evangelistic crusades were transdenominational and open to anyone open to his proclamation of the gospel. […]
Our Naïve Dependence on Technology
The bulk of Wendell Berry’s new book is made up of three long essays. These can be read as summaries of Berry’s long career of cultural criticism. […]
Expelling the Poison
There are days I would love to ignore the rest of the world—to stay off Facebook, leave the television screen blank, and toss the newspaper in the recycling bin unread. […]
Whatever Happened to Pietism?
In their wonderful new book, The Pietist Option, Covenanters Mark Pattie and Chris Gehrz frequently cite Dale Brown, a major historian of the Pietist movement. […]
Not Every Battle
The Reformation began 500 years ago this October when Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk […]
Lovers or Fighters?
In his book Protestants, church historian Alec Ryrie argues that two traits have characterized Protestants from the beginning: they have been both lovers and fighters. […]
Is Your Cross Too Small?
The cross has always been a problem. One does not expect, to say the least, one’s Messiah to be crucified! […]
Is God in control?
By the time you read this, the ugly, contentious presidential election in the United States will be over. […]