There is a great deal being said in recent days about Jesus being divisive. What is a stunning turn of events is that it is not being declared by people outside the Christian faith who you would expect to have a negative view of Jesus. Instead, it is being proclaimed by people within the church …
Tag: Christian
Paul, Athens, and Navigating Culture
Ancient Athens Have you ever felt like you live in a culture that you don't recognize any longer? The values you are faced with every day are nothing like what you grew up with. The practices that people carry out in their lives each day are at times shocking to you. How do you respond …
Talking to 80 Muslim Students about Jesus
It was the type of opportunity about which one can only dream and pray to come to pass. A group of exchange students from more than two dozen countries visited Northland Church in order to have a 90 minute presentation and Q&A about Christianity and Jesus. They came as part of a program, supported by …
Honoring Obama Even When You Disagree With Him: The Sequel
This piece was first posted four years ago today. I find that it is just as relevant now as it was then and can only hope that people who claim to follow Christ will exhibit Christ-like character no matter what their political position may be. It is deeply concerning to me that I see many …
Continue reading Honoring Obama Even When You Disagree With Him: The Sequel
Christianity’s Fate Is Not Contingent on America
Before you go off on me as being somehow un-American, I was born into a typical Pittsburgh blue-collar family. My Dad's first job was in a coal mine before he worked his way to owning a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership and fulfilling his version of the American dream. My favorite actor always has been and always will …
Continue reading Christianity’s Fate Is Not Contingent on America
Obama, the Bible, and Same Sex Marriage
It is impossible to turn on the news today or go to the internet without being confronted by the news of President Obama's statement that he supports the right of same-sex couples to get married. While I can certainly appreciate his compassionate heart for people who feel they are unfairly being denied the possibility of …
Egypt: An Uncertain Future for the Faithful
Having just spent a week in Egypt, including time in Cairo, including a visit to Tahrir Square, I am struck by the somber mood that hangs over much of the country. If you have never been to Egypt before you might not notice anything out-of-place. This was my fifth visit to the country in the …
Continue reading Egypt: An Uncertain Future for the Faithful
Christianity and Science: Is There a Conflict?
As a kid I was enthralled with science, any branch of science, astronomy, biology, chemistry, paleontology, physics, anatomy, it didn't matter. Until the fifth grade I lived in a house that backed up to a huge woods that included a spring fed pond where my best friend Bobby Kramer and I used to catch salamanders, …
Continue reading Christianity and Science: Is There a Conflict?
Lessons from an Atheist: The Death of Christopher Hitchens
He is perhaps to most well-known atheist of the past two decades. He became infamous for his attacks on religion and religious figures seeing all religion as dangerous and destructive. It didn't matter to him if you were an Islamic suicide bomber or Mother Theresa, who he accused of being an ambitious self promoter who …
Continue reading Lessons from an Atheist: The Death of Christopher Hitchens
Burundi, A Nation Being Healed by the Power of Christ
For twelve years, from 1993 to 2005, Burundi, a nation of 8 million people, suffered through a civil war that took the lives of an estimated 300,000 people. It was a horrendous time of slaughter and genocide. Men, women, children, the elderly, people who had no desire for fighting, were caught in the vortex of …
Continue reading Burundi, A Nation Being Healed by the Power of Christ
Blessed are the Merciful: The Irony of Angry Christians
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. I continue to be perplexed at the anger and rejection that so many Christians heap on people whose sin is obvious and public. What befuddles me is that this is about as far from doing what Jesus did as you can get. I look …
Continue reading Blessed are the Merciful: The Irony of Angry Christians
President Obama: Christian or Muslim?
One thing you have to love about people, is the way we can refuse to let the facts get in the way of a good preconceived notion, conspiracy theory, or deeply held conviction. Depending on which poll you read in the past several months, anywhere from 18 to 24% of Americans still think that the …
Alabama Governor Says, “You’re Not My Brother”
Alabama Governor, Robert Bentley has people in an outrage over comments he recently made at a church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was once pastor. Politics Daily is reporting that Bentley was making the point that as Governor he is color blind and serves all the people of the state equally. But he went …
Continue reading Alabama Governor Says, “You’re Not My Brother”
Why You Need to Pray for Sudan: NOW!
In 1989 Sudanese Colonel Omar al-Bashir led a coup against the president of Sudan. Shortly after he began to institute Islamic Sharia law and took his armies into the largely Christian Sudanese south in order to enforce his will. War raged for the next fifteen years. One of the effects was the suffering in Darfur, …
Death, Destruction, and Dedication in Eastern India
In the fall of 2008 the Indian state of Orissa was rocked by a shocking wave of violence. Tens of thousands of Hindus went on a month-long rampage against local Christians. By the time the violence ended more than 60 pastors were killed, mostly beaten to death by mobs, and 100 churches or church related …
Continue reading Death, Destruction, and Dedication in Eastern India
The Provocative Christian 