The Complicated Business of the "Tradition"

@DaleMCoulter muses on his students: The task was not to defend the tributary of Christianity in which my students had first touched the waters of baptism, but to show them that it was fed by a vast river stretching back two millennia. In short, I defended Christianity by helping them swim upstream so that they could …

Gungor and the Perils of the Old Earth

There's always something going on out there, and in the last couple of weeks one of those somethings has been the flap over the musician Michael Gungor's post on the age of the earth: Do I believe God exists? Yes.Do I believe Jesus is the Son of God? Yes.Do I believe that Scripture is God-breathed …

The Disciples of Ayn Rand and the Disciples of Jesus Christ

There’s a great deal of kerfuffle over Ann Coulter’s article about Samaritan’s Purse physician Kent Brantly, his contracting Ebola in the course of treating it Liberia, his transport to the CDC in Atlanta and the cost associated with the entire process.  Evidently she thinks him insufficiently patriotic to have gone to another place and fight …

The Sign of Peace and Those "Happy-Clappy" Masses

Amidst the sorrow and tragedy that dominates the news these days, the Vatican weighs in on a matter that may seem trivial to some: The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) has urged the church’s bishops to crack down on boisterous exchanges of peace during the Eucharist service. In a letter dated 8 June 2014 …

It's Easier to Vote When It Makes a Difference

@danbalz wonders why this keeps happening: The Center for the Study of the American Electorate (CSAE) recently issued a dreary summation about participation in the primary elections so far this year. Based on the 25 states that have already held their primaries, the report chronicled a pattern of voter indifference and, in some cases, record low turnout. I …

They'll Bust You for Anything in the U.S.

Including, in some places, DUI on a lawnmower:  A Northern Colorado man was arrested on suspicion on DUI but it was what he was driving that makes this case unusual. He was driving a lawnmower. Police said Kenneth Welton was driving drunk from bar to bar along a very busy 8th Avenue in Garden City …

If You Don't Want People's Opinion, Don't Ask

A familiar mantra comes from Billy Graham's grandson: "The core message of the Christian faith has been lost in the public sector because what we are primarily known for is our political ideology or opinion," Tchividjian told The Christian Post. Over the last 30 years, the Religious Right has replaced Christianity's foremost message of the …

@holysmoke: The "un-English and un-Manly" Hit the Wall

Translated, Church of England Anglo-Catholics: From the moment the General Synod voted for women priests in 1992, it was inevitable that it would also vote for women bishops...Conservative Anglo-Catholics now face a simple choice: stay in an established Church that has reaffirmed its liberal Protestantism by this vote, or seek full communion with Rome, either …

Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Church Planting Will Be Also

The Episcopalians haven't done much church planting these days: Over on Episcopal Café, blogger Jim Naughton recently asked the question: “Why doesn’t the Episcopal Church plant more churches?” Arizona Episcopal Priest Susan Brown Snook sparked the conversation by pointing out that in 2012, the entire Episcopal Church planted just three congregations. To place that into perspective, …

So Who Are My Mother and My Brothers? Part II

The oldest Pentecostal educational institution that I am aware of is the Holmes Bible College in Greenville, SC.  For many years Dr. Paul F. Beacham was its President, impacting the lives of many of his students.  In his 1950 book Questions and Answers on the Scriptures and Related Subjects (published by the Pentecostal Holiness Church publishing house), …

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