The Mystery of Suffering Wednesday, January 24, 2018 It is much easier to appreciate the glory of Jesus’ resurrection than his painful crucifixion. Yet, Mark’s Gospel, written around 65 …
You Are What You Love
James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin College and has a Ph.D. from Villanova University. In his book, You Are What You Love, Smith takes a look …
Dale Smith – ‘zaggerater’
Bev Logue has known Dale Smith since childhood and her attendance at Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp. Dale was a regular at that camp in the early days of its existence. …
You Have Been Warned!
(RNS) — It didn’t take long for some preachers to start telling us why God caused the horrible mass murder in Las Vegas to happen. Pat Robertson led the way, …
Pandora’s Box
A great metaphor for the Seven Deadly Sins is the legend of Pandora’s Box According to the story, Zeus, the supreme god, rewarded Epimetheus and Prometheus because of their loyalty …
Teach One Another
I’m grateful for your response to the sermon and worship planning article from last week’s Currents. And….. The response inspired me to add this article on the subject of music . First …
Is God Causing Everything?
Philosophy is an important part of “doing” theology. How so? A good way to test beliefs is by applying good philosophical thinking to the question. For example, a person may …
Not God’s Marionettes
By Peter Marty, Christian Century, June 21, 2017, page 3. I was visiting a historic church some years ago and picked up a short history of the congregation. I learned that …
Being Startled by the Gospel
My friend, Mark Love, posted this on his blog, www.dei-iberations.com. The thesis of the article is that the gospel when considered in its totality is startling. It is not, as …
Prayer Beads and the Lord’s Prayer
Prayer Beads Cycle [Cross] Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen [First big …
The Lord’s Prayer as a Model for Your Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer is an excellent model for building your own prayer life. It may be used in numerous ways to organize your petitions to Our Father. It’s importance is …
Christmas Priorities
All you have to do is walk in Costco in October, and the crisis of misplaced priorities his you in the face. Christmas displays begin to tease from the warehouse …
A Short Review of Baptism
This study guide is for the purpose of giving a short overview of what the New Testament says about baptism. Read each passage and answer the questions. You will have …
Fully naked, fully known: Field notes on sex and marriage
by Katherine Willis Pershey (http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2016-09/fully-naked-fully-known) My husband Benjamin was not my first. Not my first love, and not my first . . . first. Although I once was the proud …
Teaching Calvin in California by Jonathan Sheehan
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/opinion/teaching-calvin-in-california.html?_r=0 BERKELEY, Calif. — We spend a great deal of time worrying about theology these days. From extremist violence to the American culture wars, the theological imagination can feel …
Making Mindy A Porn Star: True Confessions of a Former Porn Producer
http://fightthenewdrug.org/mindys-story/ July 31, 2014 Note from writer: I must warn you that what I’m about to share with you is dark. If you are in need of a “pick-me-up,” this …
LifeSpring Is 10 Years Old!
It’s hard to believe! 10 years ago, LifeSpring began meeting weekly at Playhouse Merced. At that time we were a small group of strangers learning what each other’s talents were, …
Being Arab
DIANA EID·SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2016 As you well know, I try to avoid discussing any touchy topics on Facebook because I know how easy it is to misunderstand and be …
Instead of the Sinner’s Prayer
I’ve been asked more than once What do you say, then, when you are calling people to … here the words matter but I don’t want to parse them at …