February 23, 2012
Iran has been prominent in the news once more over the past few weeks as the Iranian government continues to press its nuclear program. It seems like Iran offers another antagonistic tidbit of information into its progress every week. Given its past stated hostility toward the nation of Israel through the mouthpiece of its firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel and the United States have justifiable concerns about the true nature of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
by: Grayson Robertson | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
February 16, 2012
Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) ignited a non-violent civil rights movement based on Jesus's command to love your enemy. At least that's what most people think. Jesus's command, however, provided only half of the ethical basis for this world-changing peacemaking effort. King's belief in the "image of God" (common grace) provided the other building block.
by: Rick Love | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
February 13, 2012
How do we make sense of the many good deeds done by those who do not follow Jesus? The way we answer this radically impacts how we relate to people and how we engage culture. That's why I consider it an indispensable issue for peacemakers.
by: Rick Love | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
February 7, 2012
If you live in the UK, you will certainly have heard of physicist Ziauddin Sardar (b. 1951, Pakistan), one of Britain’s top 100 public intellectuals, according to Prospect magazine. With over 45 books in print and hundreds of articles, he edits the journals Futures and Critical Muslim. Sardar is a university professor, a journalist of great repute, and a broadcaster. His most recent work is a three-part documentary, The Life of Muhammad, for BBC2.
Sardar’s latest book, Reading the Qur’an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam was published this year by Oxford University Press. I highly recommend it to you. It’s a fascinating introduction to the Qur’an and a captivating window into how one influential thinker reads it.
by: David L. Johnston | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
January 23, 2012
A favorite author of mine once mused, “I pictured semi-trailers on American interstates bearing slogans like ‘There is No God But Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet’ or a big blue Star of David with ‘That Jewish Carpenter Wasn’t Our Messiah.’” This author was pointing out the double standard that seems to exist among Christians about the right to publicly proclaim one’s faith tradition, rooted in the perception that Christianity is in danger of extinction in American society.
by: Grayson Robertson | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
January 19, 2012
My friend, Pastor Jay Pathak was talking to the mayor of Arvada. Jay wanted to know his vision for the city. After sharing a number of things, the mayor confessed: “I guess I want people to be good neighbors.” Jay assured the mayor that he could help with that one! Since then Jay has mobilized and worked with more than fifty other churches in Colorado to encourage their people to “rediscover the art of neighboring.” They are taking the love commandment seriously by pursuing relationships with their neighbors.
by: Rick Love | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
January 12, 2012
My friend Carl Medearis tells an enlightening story about teaching at a large church in Texas. He asked the group “what is the gospel?” and then made a list of the students' answers on the chalkboard. They answered, "the free gift of God, freedom from sin, eternal life, grace, unconditional love, healing and deliverance, redemption, faith in God, new life." Next he asked the class if they missed anything. The class sat silent for a minute. Then a girl raised her hand and asked, “How come none of us mentioned Jesus?”
by: Rick Love | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
November 30, -0001
It seems as if I receive weekly emails from my evangelical friends and Bible Study classmates that lament the role that Christianity currently plays in the American public square. For example, a number of my friends have made it a point to wish me, electronically, a “Merry CHRISTmas” – an obvious reference to their perception of the inability of Christians to be true to their religious faith during the Christmas season for fear of being “politically incorrect."
by: Grayson Robertson | Categories: Theology & Church Issues
