The Emerging Church is officially dead…at least, the name is dead.  Dan Kimball says of the term, “I can't defend or even explain theologically what is now known broadly as 'the emerging church' anymore, because it has developed into so many significantly different theological strands. Some I strongly would disagree with.”  “Emerging Church” is being dropped [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Emerging / Emergent Church, Main Page 1 Comment »

I was appalled, but not particularly surprised to read the following in an article about the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the D.C. handgun ban: In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority [who said the ban was unconstitutional] “would have us believe that over 200 [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Politics 3 Comments »

From John Newton’s An Authentic Narrative: How many such casual events may we remark in the history of Joseph, which had each a necessary influence in his ensuing promotion!  If he had not dreamed, or if he had not told his dream; if the Midianites had passed by a day sooner or a day later; [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Theology 1 Comment »

In Egypt and elsewhere in the Muslim world, women suffering under oppressive leaders are starting to cry out for the right to choose.  A quote from an AP article reveals the anguish of these women: “How many times have I wished I were a man . . . [When the leader said he would continue [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Ethics, Main Page, Politics No Comments »

There's a story in Judges about a man who sends his concubine out to be abused by the men of the town in order to save his own skin.  When he finds her dead in the morning, he sends parts of her body to all the tribes of Israel as a shocking, visual wake-up call [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Culture, Ethics, Main Page 2 Comments »

We all expect the Spanish Inquisition to show up sooner or later in our discussions with atheists.  Does the presence of the Inquisition in Christian history discredit all of Christianity?  Does it render our past completely barbaric? Here’s a question that can help clarify the issues involved with the Inquisition objection:  Do you honor Thomas [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Apologetics, Culture, Main Page, Religion (General) 3 Comments »

You probably heard about the Berkeley City Council passing a motion declaring the Marine recruiters in their city “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” and about Code Pink’s aggressive, ongoing protest against those recruiters, which includes carrying a banner with the words ”No military predators in our town,” calling the recruiters traitors, and physically blocking anyone trying to enter the recruitment center (as [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Main Page, Miscellaneous, Theology 5 Comments »

(Warning:  Spoilers ahead, touching on the last couple seasons.  If you don’t watch Lost, turn off your computer now and go rent Season One!) I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always been interested in stories that involve time travel of some sort, so I’ve enjoyed the direction Lost began to take last season.  But there’s something [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Culture, Main Page 7 Comments »

There has been some talk about Frank Schaeffer's new book about his father, Crazy for God.  Os Guinness's review is now posted on the Books and Culture website:   The problem is not so much that Frank exposes and trumpets his parents' flaws and frailties, or that he skewers them with his characteristic mockery. It [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Apologetics, Main Page, Miscellaneous No Comments »

It’s funny to me that while William Wilberforce needed to argue in his book, A Practical View of Christianity, that the religious affections–love, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, etc.–are a necessary a part of our relationship with and service to God, we have the very opposite problem only a couple of centuries later.  Today, knowledge about [...]

Posted in Amy's Posts, Emerging / Emergent Church, Main Page, Religion (General) 1 Comment »