I discovered that the increase of religious “nones” is strongly correlated with use of new technologies.
As I Was Saying
This is The Banner's online opinion column, from a variety of different writers, published Fridays.
As Indigenous people we often see ourselves connected with nature more than the average person.
Polarization seems to have pervaded every corner of our families, churches, and society.
- December 22, 2021| |
One of the obvious problems with the death penalty is that you can’t bring someone back from the dead when you get it wrong.
This year in particular, the tree farm I grew up on reminds me that joy and sorrow often mingle side by side, especially during the holidays.
I think sometimes we are so afraid of being defined by our grief or by our suffering that we try to avoid its presence in our lives.
You’ll see that there have been many groups of people who feel this way. It’s just like when I was moved around a lot and then finally grew up in an adopted family.
For many of my Christian friends, peers, and colleagues, “vocation” and “calling” have become hollow words, a varnish smeared over mundane jobs.
There is something about our nature that hinders us from understanding.
One of my friends reflected: at the end of our lives, what relationship will we have with our kids and others?
I want this article to focus on the positive, since focusing on the positive can improve a person’s perspective.
Every conspiracy, if it is going to gain a hearing and spread, will always appeal to our passions and prejudices, even when we know better.
Sharing information is more efficient than ever, but sadly the church is again fragmenting at a whole new level.
It’s the only way these days to visit this landmark of Christianity. Pay money to go to church.
We’ve all had to deal with more grief, loss, and change than usual over the past 18 months, and that includes the children in our families, churches, and communities.
If even the smallest creatures are capable of such altruism—sacrificing one’s life so that others may live—why have we as adult human beings failed to protect the most vulnerable of our race?
Jesus’ return is not a reason to do nothing about the climate crisis. In fact, the opposite is true: God will call us to give an account of what we did here in this life, in this world.
There is always the right of appeal, of proving the assembly wrong (see also Art. 30), and of requesting “revision of a decision” previously made (see Art. 31).
It’s best to approach life like fresh bread intended to be made and eaten daily.
The New Testament makes this point as well when it compares the road that leads to eternal life as narrow and the one that leads to destruction as broad.
I remember thinking, in the crowded sanctuary, lit purple and red with sweeping lights, “I am not this kind of Christian.”
During his ministry, Jesus continually showed how God values what we consider common.
Baseball, the American pastime, is a sport that many parents and grandparents share with children. But do we bring the same intentionality to bear on passing down through the generations a desire to worship God?
One woman tells her story of navigating eight decades of growing and leading in the church.