Buddhist 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
General Christian 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
Buddhist 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
Buddhist 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
General Christian Again and Again: A Song for Lent For over a year, we (The Many) had been reflecting on this line that one of our members Lenora had written, “Why are things so broken.” It’s a tough question. An emotional question. It seemed like the genesis of a great song, but we were stuck. Then a few months ago we had an invitation […] Written by Red Letter Christians February 27, 2021February 27, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian 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
Evangelical 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
Evangelical 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
Evangelical Let’s Talk: ‘Thou Shall Not Judge’ “Judgmental” is a negative descriptor today, even though our culture holds some values so deeply that it “cancels” anyone who disregards them. And while cancel culture can bring great harm, it’s existence points to the fact that not all judgment is bad. Jasmine Holmes says, “Even in our culture that is not a largely Christian […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Evangelical Sunday Worship Is More Than Songs and a Sermon As a proto-hipster of the late 1990s, I entered the worship wars of my local church with mandolin and accordion in hand, ready to change the world with quirky acoustic folk music for Jesus. Had you asked me why that was important, I wouldn’t have given you a good answer. I wanted things to change […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Evangelical 25 Great Novelists Who Affirm Faith I’m always on the lookout for something new to read or watch or listen to. That’s why, in the last chapter of my new book, Discovering God Through the Arts, I provide many such lists that might prove interesting and helpful for the spiritual searcher. Here is an expanded version of one list: 25 great […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Evangelical The Bible’s Story on a Kid’s Napkin We want to make sense of our lives and the world. So do our kids. What narrative helps us do that? “Only the strong survive” shouts loudest—in the lunch hall, playground, or in a global pandemic. “You do you!” and a Disneyesque “Follow your heart!” are prevalent voices in our culture. But in the Bible, God […] Written by Evangelical History February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked