(OPINION) Only 1% of New York City was “evangelical” when Keller arrived in 1989, and homicides hit 2,245 during his first full year of ministry in the tense city. Yet there was a “cracking in the ice” as immigrants from a variety of faiths poured into the city’s boroughs. Soon, many new churches were born.
Read MoreLutefisk is a tradition I found out, but it’s reserved for the late fall and early winter celebrations. You cannot get it over July 4th weekend, sorry to say. Nevertheless, I pressed on to learn about the culture of lutefisk, Lutheranism and other elements of the faith-inflected Scandinavian ways of the upper Midwest.
Read More(OPINION) For generations, Indigenous people have been asking for objects taken during colonization of their traditional homelands to be returned. Some of the objects are sacred, but also many items are human remains. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples said human remains and funerary objects should be returned to the individual tribes.
Read More(OPINION) Because a key tenet of Quakerism is continuing revelation, Quakerism has become a safe place to explore spiritual journeys and learn what your own Inner Light is saying to you. It was the echo I saw between the early Quakers and the current seekers and the need I saw for an in-flesh community that led me to advocate for a workshop to explore those ideas.
Read More(REVIEW) More books have been written about St. Francis of Assisi than virtually any other historical figure after Jesus Christ. In the Italian town of his birth, he is even the subject of an entire bookstore. As this enthralling exhibition at The National Gallery demonstrates, the revered saint also captured the imaginations of artists who have for generations told his remarkable story without the need for words.
Read More(OPINION) Many years ago as a consultant, I joked with colleagues about our tongue-in-cheek disclaimer for final reports: “We have not succeeded in solving your problem. We are still confused, but we are confused at a much higher level.” Generative artificial intelligence (the kind behind chatbots) has the ability to confuse us all at much higher levels!
Read More(REVIEW) The summer is synonymous with reading on the beach or near the pool. So here are three new books to consider adding to your list. While many seek mindless books to indulge in during this time of year, these will make you think and reflect about yourself and the world around you.
Read More(OPINION) Lonnie Frisbee may have been largely airbrushed out of the Jesus movement history by some of his former colleagues because his personal story was inconvenient. On separate occasions, Frisbee was fired by Chuck Smith and John Wimber, and afterward was regarded as an outcast by the movement he’d largely started.
Read MoreJERUSALEM — Israel’s central — and arguably shameful — role in the global antiquities business was the subject of a Zoom lecture on May 2 sponsored by the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and the Palestine Exploration Fund headquartered in London.
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence programs such as ChatGPT continue to become more popular and accessible. With many questioning the future of AI and its implications, we asked Apple’s Siri a series of questions about different religious faiths.
Read MoreOnce a seminary professor, Pastor Tim Keller planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City in the early 1990s and ministered to the, arguably, unchurched elite of Manhattan in New York City. In rented auditoriums, Keller preached in professorial style to thousands of young professionals and families.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the ongoing battles over who’s in — and who’s out — among Southern Baptists and United Methodists. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreCanon India uploaded a picture from Kashmir on its social media handles last year. As soon as it reached the audience in Muslim-dominant region, a wave of anger and outrage swept across people after they saw a couple posing for a memorable picture in the backdrop of Hazratbal shrine, which is believed to be the most revered religious place in Kashmir.
Read More(ANALYSIS) There’s nothing like walking down Via della Conciliazione in Rome. It’s a very long street, bustling with cars and tourists, that feeds into St. Peter’s Square. It’s a reminder of how imposing the Vatican can be, at least physically, in an increasingly secular West. Italy, however, remains a Catholic nation, at least culturally, with reminders everywhere.
Read More(OPINION) Referring to the “wedding banquet at Cana,” when Jesus turned water into wine, the Jesuit theologian called for a changed church in which “people of all races, genders and sexualities rejoice at the presence of love” and a world in which “spiritual wounds will be healed, where faith-based violence will be no more, where fear and intolerance are relics of history.”
Read More(OPINION) I hate the outdoors. There, I said it. Sling all the mud my way you want, you hikers, rock climbers and campers. Your mud will not stick to me, because I’ll be happily ensconced behind the brick walls of my climate-controlled, preternaturally comfortable house, binging on Netflix shows and living my own best life.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since 2008, the PTA has repeatedly banned or taken steps to ban online Ahmadi content inside Pakistan. However, the PTA has now extended its efforts to block or remove content that is hosted outside of Pakistan in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Singapore and Switzerland.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Every year, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) releases a report on religious oppression around the world, recommending that the State Department designate specific countries as especially severe violators. In this year’s report, released May 1, 2023, Iran came in for particular criticism after months of protests and arrests sparked by headscarf laws. Sri Lanka, Cuba and Nicaragua were also singled out as areas of concern; Nicaragua is specifically accused of persecution against Catholics.
Read MoreA former employee of a $100 billion investment fund owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave an interview on national TV program “60 Minutes” about his experience working at the Salt Lake City-based Ensign Peak Advisors Inc. and what drove him to file a whistleblower complaint with the IRS and other government entities.
Read More(OPINION) We are just dumb sheep — meaning, dumb compared to the wisdom and knowledge of God and compared to the challenges we face in this world, despite the wisdom we gain by experience and the knowledge we gain through the Word. For me, that brings tremendous comfort.
Read More
