General Christian Post-Grad Reflections: An Identity beyond Labels & Routines There’s a note on my phone last edited at 12:25 a.m. on January 16, 2020. It begins like this: Thoughts Who will I be now that I can’t win scholarships, and when my grades don’t tell me I’m special? How do I measure my progress without the grading scale that has faithfully shown me where […] Written by intervarsity November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian A New Chapter in the American Experiment Donald Trump did not change America. He revealed America. He held a mirror up and forced us to look at who we really are as a country, with all our beauty and all our bruises. What we see is a deeply divided nation, especially when it comes to race. Even though the mythology of racial […] Written by Red Letter Christians November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian It’s Not About You I’ve written before that I agree with Scott Peck that most of the evil in the world starts with a refusal to look at parts of ourselves that we can’t accept. It moves from there into a projection out onto others and becomes evil then when those it is projected onto […] Written by Barbara Barkley November 8, 2020November 8, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Feeling Disoriented? Let God Reorient You This is a difficult season as we live with a global pandemic, painful racial tensions, an intense divide in politics, economic instability, people of color suffering disproportionately, and natural catastrophes. We’re overwhelmed by uncertainty, stress, disappointment, conflicts, isolation, fatigue, pain, loss, sickness, and fear. As we face these difficulties, I’m reminded of Lamentations 3:21–24: Written by intervarsity November 6, 2020November 7, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian All Saint’s Humility 1 Kings 17:1-24 Matthew 23: 1-12 On Wednesday morning of last week I attended an on-line respite through the PCUSA Board of Pensions. Basically what that means is that I attended a three hour webinar for clergy that was focused on how we take care of ourselves so we can continue our ministry during […] Written by Barbara Barkley November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Every vote counts? As a rule I really haven’t gone out up until now. I go to church once every two weeks to record services, and that’s been pretty much it. We order our groceries and other things that we need. We go for walks around the neighborhood for exercise, but always wearing masks […] Written by Barbara Barkley November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian When Religion Becomes Idolatry Editor’s Note: This essay is taken from Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics and Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond. For the past few weeks leading up to Election Day 2020, we have been sharing new excerpts from this anthology of dissent. This piece is the final in the series. “For now we […] Written by Red Letter Christians November 3, 2020November 3, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian A Practical View of White American Folk Religion Contrasted with Real Christianity Editor’s Note: This essay is taken from Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics and Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond. Each week between now and Election Day 2020, we will be sharing new excerpts from this anthology of dissent. 81% of White Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump to Make America Great Again. But it was […] Written by Red Letter Christians October 31, 2020October 31, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Why I’m Voting for the First Time in 28 Years Come Tuesday, November 3, 2020, those of us in the United States, who are of age and legally registered, must vote. I have come to believe it is our spiritual and moral obligation. I’ve always considered myself a conscientious objector when it came to voting. The last time I cast a ballot was in 1992 […] Written by Red Letter Christians October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian A Prayer for Lingering in Racial Discomfort My family sat at the breakfast table the other day and started talking about current events. As the conversation unfolded, I started feeling uncomfortable at the thought of conflict, so I decided to not engage at all. I walked out the door. I left. As a White person in the US, I have the privilege […] Written by intervarsity October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Personal God Is Greatly Concerned About the Kind of Worship We Offer to Him How is it possible that sinners like you and me can worship God? R. C. Sproul answers this way: God’s thoughts are pure; my thoughts are impure. God’s actions are perfect; my actions are imperfect. That is why I need a Savior. That is why my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! A personal, spiritual […] Written by Paul Tautges November 22, 2020November 22, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Faith Story Number 3: The Gospel Story My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me,And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.For me He died, For me He lives,And everlasting life and light He freely gives — Hymn, For me he died, for me he lives The greatest story ever Jesus died for you. His death paid […] Written by EvangelismCoach November 21, 2020November 21, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Personal God Is Greatly Concerned About the Kind of Worship We Offer to Him How is it possible that sinners like you and me can worship God? R. C. Sproul answers this way: God’s thoughts are pure; my thoughts are impure. God’s actions are perfect; my actions are imperfect. That is why I need a Savior. That is why my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! A personal, spiritual […] Written by Paul Tautges November 22, 2020November 22, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Faith Story Number 3: The Gospel Story My hope is in the Lord Who gave Himself for me,And paid the price of all my sin at Calvary.For me He died, For me He lives,And everlasting life and light He freely gives — Hymn, For me he died, for me he lives The greatest story ever Jesus died for you. His death paid […] Written by EvangelismCoach November 21, 2020November 21, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Moving On from ‘Cheap Unity’ Could our nation possibly be more divided than it is today? One side of the political spectrum calls for racial justice, while the other decries concepts like white privilege and systemic racism as “unpatriotic.” One side recognizes Joe Biden as the president-elect, while the other adamantly believes baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud. One side […] Written by Red Letter Christians November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Immortality – All it’s cracked up to be? One of my family’s favorite movies is Stardust. At one point in the film one of the characters says, “King! For eternity!” He is obviously very excited about this prospect, and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. But while we were watching it the other day for the […] Written by Barbara Barkley November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Liberty, Obedience, and Discipleship “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4 (ESV) “Liberty” has been central to identity in the USA for centuries, from Patrick Henry’s famous “give me liberty, or give me death” to our national anthem celebrating “the land of the free.” Religious liberty, […] Written by Red Letter Christians November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
American Christians and Islam: From the Colonial Era to the Post-9/11 World Here’s a video of my plenary address at the 2020 Evangelical Theological Society meeting. My talk is based on my book American Christians and Islam (Princeton University Press). Written by Evangelical History November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Children with Disabilities are a Gift from the Lord *Today’s article is written by Dave and Nancy Deuel, and is drawn from their new mini-book, Help! My Child has a Disability. It was a busy time in our lives. Dave tells the story. We had gotten married, and I had finished school and taken my first teaching job. We had moved from the East […] Written by Paul Tautges November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
