All Blog Posts for January, 2011

Coming in weakness

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Jan 31, 2011 by Scott D. Anderson

For the past 20 years I have toiled in the vineyards of two state legislatures: in California for 12 years and now in Wisconsin for the past eight, along with occasional forays to the U.S. Congress. In these arenas I have represented the interests of state councils of churches, which are really the interests of those who don't have the time, money or wherewithal to advocate for themselves: children, impoverished families, working-class parents with low-paying jobs.

Link digest

Jan 29, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

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2 comments

Years of learning and unlearning

Jan 28, 2011 by Debra Bendis

Eugene Peterson's new memoir, The Pastor, will be out in February (Century subscribers can read the excerpt from the book in the February 8 issue.) If any pastor has claimed the vocation, it's Peterson, who has grounded and inspired pastors for many years with books that include Under the Unpredictable Plant and The Contemplative Pastor.

An important, boring speech

Jan 27, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

It's hard to know what to say about State of the Union, since the speech Tuesday was long on examples of the results of good policy but short on the policy itself. ("As I understand it," offers Matt Yglesias, "gay soldiers will win the future by riding high speed trains to salmon farms.") Here are a few assorted thoughts.

2 comments

The Bible: Not just for sermons anymore

Jan 26, 2011 by Tripp Hudgins

Sometimes I'm a little slow. It's true. I don't always read the Bible as if it were for me. Lately I most often read scripture in search of a sermon for the congregation. Now, I realize that most of these sermons are also for me, but, yeah. I forget just to read for God's leading for my own life, for a deeper understanding of my own place with the People of God. It's a slippery slope.

4 comments

The logic of revolt

Jan 26, 2011 by David Heim

It used to be that the defense of Second Amendment rights was linked, at least rhetorically, to the rights of hunters and outdoor enthusiasts, who worried that gun laws might deny them their hunting rifles or the chance to engage in target practice. That concern--always farfetched--has come to look rather quaint.

1 comment

The best possible light

Jan 25, 2011 by Martin E. Marty

Our nation's been in a momentary fit of proposing that we exercise more civility in public life.

Parish realities and a Doritos Eucharist

Jan 24, 2011 by Melissa Florer-Bixler

By now you’ve heard the uproar about the Dorito’s “Crash the Super Bowl” contest entry that featured a Eucharist of Coke and chips.

3 comments

Walking humbly

Micah 6:8

Jan 24, 2011 by Scott D. Anderson

Just as loving mercy is a means to doing justice, so is walking humbly with God. Yet in the sexuality debates raging in the mainline church, humility is seldom easy to find. Both sides cling to the fiction that they harbor gospel truth.

Family

Jan 21, 2011 by William H. Willimon

It didn't take our new governor long to stumble with his comment that if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, "You're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother." It took the governor a long time to apologize, saying he didn't mean to offend. I've heard from lots of United Methodists who are not so much offended by the governor's remarks as concerned that he - perhaps unintentionally - misrepresented the Christian faith.

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Tribal Church posts are licensed under Creative Commons, some rights reserved by Carol Howard Merritt. The rights to CCblogs posts belong to the authors. All other posts are © The Christian Century. The Christian Century hosts Tribal Church and facilitates the CCblogs network but does not edit these posts or take responsibility for them.

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