By Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli This past weekend I had the joy and privilege of speaking five times for a church’s family camp at Mount Hermon. The topic was “Hearing the Voice of Jesus,” and my objective was to demystify the mystical, if you will. If God is alive and active, then surely God continues…
Review by Jeremy Kimble Rob Lister. God Is Impassible and Impassioned: Toward a Theology of Divine Emotion. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013. 333 pp. $22.99. In the modern church the doctrine of God’s impassibility (that is, his inability to suffer or feel pain) has often been relegated to the esoteric realms of theological discourse. However, when…
By Miles McPherson Is it just me, or do you agree that something valuable has been lost now that a huge portion of human communication is so impersonal? Are we forgetting how to relate to one another the old-school way: face to face and person to person? The other day a man stepped into the…
By Barton Gingerich Last week’s Ecumenical Advocacy Days featured a fine flashback to the heydays of the Religious Left: Liberation Theology, which reinterprets Marxism through a Christian prism. With the fall of the Soviet bloc, liberationists lost much of their popularity. Nevertheless, adherents persist today, though they address a shrunken audience. As the EAD Sunday…
By the Rev. Mark H. Creech It is said that when hymn pollsters report which hymn is most frequently requested, “The Old Rugged Cross” is hands-down the most popular. The author of that hymn, George Bennard, believed the cross wasn’t just a symbol of Christianity, but the very heart of it. In the days to…
By Bruce Baugus I began seminary with an intensive summer elective titled “Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture.” The professor was a capable and trustworthy guide; I was a novice. Thrown by issues I’d never considered, I soon found myself in an acute spiritual crisis. Inwardly unravelling, I couldn’t dodge the question: is this book flopped…
By Viola Larson Recently reading an article on More Light Presbyterians’ site I wanted to sit down with the author put my arm around her shoulder and tell her that she is loved but confused. She, like so many in this generation, is deeply confused about Christian identity and the love of God. Annanda Barclay…
J. I Packer. Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 176 pp. $12.99. Review by Alex Duke J. I. Packer is something of an evangelical monolith. Throughout his lifetime—now nearly a century long—while the West’s quasi-religious moorings have been left unattended, Packer has bolstered the Christian consciousness. Relentlessly biblical and…
By Susie Turner Billy Graham may be 94 and largely housebound but he doesn’t see that as a barrier to being used by God. The famed evangelist believes there are opportunities even in his final years on earth to live a meaningful life. Part of the secret to finding that meaning, he tells Do Well…