Down on the Ashram

This post is my transcription of a recent lecture by Ted Jennings, with some minor additions, posted with his permission. Latin America has a unique situation that distinguishes the theology that i…

Michigan’s 14th congressional district looks like a jagged letter ’S’ lying on its side.

Conversations for Ministry Leaders

The Color Purple traces the life of the protagonist Celie through her own words via her correspondence first with God and then with her sister Nettie. Alice Walker narrates Celie’s journey towards …

(This post has not been edited for errors.  These are my raw, honest thoughts. In a hurry?  Scroll down for my 10 observations.) I didn’t grow up in church. It wasn’t until I was assaulted in high …

I’ve always had mixed feelings about George W. I voted for him once (his second term) and coming from Texas had something of an emotional tie to the former President. Not only that, but I like him. I naively believe, of all the former Presidents, he and I would get along the best. I’d rather sit in a duck blind with a dog and George W. than with anybody else. I think we’d get along. If only he drank beer. That said, I wonder at times if his Presidency didn’t get swayed too strongly by Dick Cheney and the whole Neo-Con control machine (without which he would not have gotten elected). It’s a shame, really. W. may have done more for the continent of Africa than any other President, at least from a foreign policy/financial perspective. Despite popular belief, he was a strong advocate for the poor and marginalized. And I like the fact he wanted to lower taxes, but I hate the fact he increased the national debt

A former student’s account of coming out at Liberty University

The topic of senior seminar in the Bible and Religion department this spring has been disability theology. Together we engage relevant biblical material and consider important contemporary figures….

Within about four minutes of announcing our yearlong series on Sexuality & the Church , I realized I was in over my head. You just don’€™t realize how many books there are to read, angles to take, and people to interview until you€’ve gone and committed to yourself to exploring a multi-faceted, hot-button issue like this one. So I emailed Richard Beck (and some others writers I respect) and asked for help. Richard’€™s blog, Experimental Theology , consistently falls into my personal Top 5 list and I can’€™t recommend it enough. Richard is a psychologist, and so his reflections on theology, the Bible, church, community, and spirituality always include some new angle I never considered before. (For example, recently he’s been discussing€œ the impossibility of Calvinistic Christian psychotherapy!) I had the privilege of meeting Richard and his awesome wife Janna when I visited Abilene Christian University a few years ago. Richard is Professor and Department Chair of Psychology there.

Enjoying work has less to do with your actual job and more to do with your attitude towards it. And changing our attitude towards work is often far easier than changing jobs.