General Christian A Viral Prayer in the Age of COVID-19 At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote a prayer that went viral. The day I composed it, there was a rat trapped somewhere in our walls. A dead one. As the stench crested and then started to fade, I watched the number of infections in our city of Seattle tick up, up, up. […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian The Continued Challenges of the Trumpism Movement The mob that desecrated the Capitol building, ending with destruction and death on the 6th of January, did so because they believed Trump when he told them that the 2020 election was fraudulent. Incited by Trump’s words, they marched and stormed the Capitol. We witnessed the Trumpism movement at its worst. Among those at the […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Mixed Blessing & Multiethnic Identity—An Essential Read for Everyone “What are you, exactly?” It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot. There’s nothing more alienating than being asked something that boxes you into sharing your personal identity and story because of someone’s preconceived assumption of you. But I had to laugh at Chandra Crane’s response to this question in her new book, Mixed Blessing: […] Written by intervarsity February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian How Not to be a Crappy Christian The great Hindu hero and leader for justice, Mahatma Gandhi, once said: “Hey, I’d be a Christian too if it weren’t for all the crappy Christians running around the place.” Ok, so Gandhi didn’t say that. Not really. But he is alleged to have said something to that effect: “I like your Christ, but not […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Jesus Invited Women to Take Their Place Throughout history, women overwhelmingly have been silenced when they’ve had a truth to tell, so much so that it felt detrimental to speak up. A waste of words. Yet Jesus, who came to make all things right, who came to overthrow power structures that demean and oppress, gave women a voice when others didn’t. He […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Silence: The Facilitator of Clergy Abuse For all those with dropped jaws about the Ravi Zacharias investigation in the news, this is not “new”s. The allegations surfaced back in 2017. The predatory behavior began as far back as 2005. It takes a silent village to create a graveyard of victims from over 15 years of abuse and assault. That Silence was […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Sunday Words on Weekdays A recent text message from my friend Mark made me question if our feeling words fit our faith. Mark had prayed about a medical procedure for my husband and shared our pleasure when the feared tests proved the absence of disease. He wrote, “Rejoicing in the good news that they didn’t find any issues.” Mark […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian How to Do Church During a Pandemic 2020 may be over, but the pandemic is not over yet. With stay-at-home guidelines, isolation, and low-grade anxiety still surrounding almost every decision of daily life, I’m reminded that many people are still far from feeling “okay.” A church community can oftentimes be a place of support, mutual encouragement, and hope. One thing I’ve been […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Transfiguration Mark 9:2-9 Luke 9:28-45 Today is transfiguration Sunday. We remember the disciples having a deep glimpse into the Divinity of Jesus, the sacredness of Jesus, the God-infused person of Jesus. But today I am asking us to look a little deeper at what it means for all […] Written by Barbara Barkley February 14, 2021February 14, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian What is a miracle Luke 7:1-17 Mark 1:29-39 Columnist Connie Shultz said, “Maybe you, too have been stopped dead in your tracs by a sign that assures us there’s something bigger at work than […] Written by Barbara Barkley February 14, 2021February 14, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Mixed Blessing and the Experience of Double Minorities “Daughter! You are Nepali! That is all,” is a refrain that Binsa hears often. She is under a lot of pressure: to marry, to bear children, to “prove” her worth as a woman. Her Zimbabwean roots are something to be hidden; her family wants her to identify as solely South Asian and to emphasize her […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Bible and the Civil War: An Interview with James P. Byrd In this post I am interviewing James P. Byrd, Professor of American Religious History, and Chair of the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is the author of books including “A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood”: The Bible and the American Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2021). [TK] The Bible and the […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Mixed Blessing and the Experience of Double Minorities “Daughter! You are Nepali! That is all,” is a refrain that Binsa hears often. She is under a lot of pressure: to marry, to bear children, to “prove” her worth as a woman. Her Zimbabwean roots are something to be hidden; her family wants her to identify as solely South Asian and to emphasize her […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Bible and the Civil War: An Interview with James P. Byrd In this post I am interviewing James P. Byrd, Professor of American Religious History, and Chair of the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is the author of books including “A Holy Baptism of Fire and Blood”: The Bible and the American Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2021). [TK] The Bible and the […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
We’ve Never Done This at a Conference Before One of the new things at TGC’s upcoming 2021 National Conference—a hybrid conference unlike any other we’ve done—concerns rethinking breakout sessions. We’re debuting new technology that we’ve never seen in a conference before. It will allow online registrants to virtually drop in and out of breakout sessions as they are happening. If you attend the […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
My True Buddha Self and Me One of the fears that we all have is being alone —especially in a permanent existential sense. So for example, we worry that if our loved one dies, and we have no close family, that we will be alone, not just in the sense of not having someone to offer support, especially in old […] Written by Ronald Hirsch February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
You Don’t Have to Go Home But You Can’t Stay Here “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”- ‘Joliet’ Jake Blues You might be one of us. We love Jesus. We have at least a passing familiarity with what he told us to do. Therefore, we can’t wrap our heads around what has happened to our church. We are dumbstruck by the […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Five Aggregates The teaching of The Five Aggregates or The Five Skandhas, is an analysis of personal experiences and a view on cognition from a Buddhist perspective. The teaching also provides a logical and thorough approach to understand the Universal Truth of Not-self. In the last issue’s “Buddhism in a Nutshell”, we conclude that self is just a convenient […] Written by Minerva Lee February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why we love our stuff Mooch’s love for Little Pink Sock from the cartoon Mutts by Patrick McDonnell Close your eyes and think of an object that means a lot to you, one that gives you comfort, one that you’d be sad to lose. When I posed this challenge to my students on Zoom, I then invited them to do […] Written by Stephanie Noble February 27, 2021February 27, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked