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You never know the day your life will change—or the person who will change it. For me, her name was Om Hassan. I was 23, an American soldier…
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Staying "On Message" for Jesus
My congregation Burke United Methodist Church is doing a campaign this fall called Jesus is My Candidate: I Vote for Him Every Day. A dimension of this campaign is thinking…
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(Un)Patriotic – Politics are Ugly
Politics are ugly. Especially in an election year. Recent polls show this election is heating up, and the fury with which each side expresses their views seemingly deepens every day.…
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Pussy Riot and the Temple Incident
By Brad JersakI’ve been asking afresh why the political and religious authorities of Jesus’ day thought it necessary to conspire in his death. What did he do or say that constituted a…
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Good Weeds: The Gospel as a Good Contagion
By Morf MorfordCS Lewis used to describe the Gospel as ‘a good contagion’. I would describe the continuing emergence or out-working of the Gospel as the equivalent of good weeds. No matter…
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Leadership as a Code Word for Power
By Roy GobleIn the 1980′s there was a push within the Church to build leaders. The thinking was that effective leadership could spark the Church out of its malaise. People like Bill…
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Big Beasts and Little Prophets: Activists Cooling Down the War Machine With Holy Water
I just arrived in Tennessee for a little sabbatical in the hills where I grew up. As I settled into my old childhood room again for a week or so…
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Covetous Leaders: How the Religious Right gets it Exactly Wrong
The authors of the Bible did not write with a constitutional democracy in mind. Nevertheless scripture offers guidance that can be useful to us in our own present situation. Though…
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Interfaith Misunderstanding in America
It’s been a great year for interfaith misunderstanding in America. There was a U.S. senator’s wild allegation about Islamic extremists infiltrating the American government. There are the ridiculous — and…
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Healing Toxic Faith: Did Jesus die to save us from God?
By Derek FloodWhy did Jesus have to die? Was it to appease a wrathful God’s demand for punishment? Does that mean Jesus died to save us from God? How could someone ever…
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Who am I to Think that I Could Stand in God's Way?
By Mal GreenI’ve had a scenario playing in my head over the past few days. It hasn’t happened but I’m wondering how I would respond if it did. In it, a couple…
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How it All Happened: My Prayer at the DNC
It’s been a whirlwind. I came home from work last Wednesday night, August 29th, flipped through the major network channels and was quickly disturbed by the bickering and bantering of…
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God Doesn’t Need our Political Endorsement
One of the most disappointing political events I have witnessed this year as a Christian was the clumsy maneuvering two days ago by the Democratic National Convention to put “God…
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Commendable in an Age of Short Cuts: Kings, Presidents and Prophets
The Presidential campaign has reached a fever-pitch. Exaggeration, half-truths and lies abound as each party scratches and claws toward election day in hopes of victory. It seems that truth in…
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The Role of Satire, Snark and Sarcasm in Building Community
Photo by ganesha.isis on Flickr Short answer: there is none. I recently stumbled upon a Les Miserables inspired video parody in support of a Barack Obama’s second term. I have obvously shared my…
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Why the “Christian life” isn’t worth living
By Kurt WillemsFor most of my life, I focused my faith on knowing Jesus through morality management. More accurately, Jesus was savior and the Spirit was the voice that helped give me…
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From the Heart…Angel Unaware
By Kathy VestalI was heading into the bathroom at my niece’s volleyball game yesterday when a kind-eyed white-haired gentleman stopped me. “Would you check on my granddaughter?” he asked me. “She’s been…
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Me Neither: Jesus Draws His Line in the Sand
It seemed no matter how they tried to trap Jesus, he always managed to weasel out of being embarrassed in front of the crowds. Attempts by these students and teachers…
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Flash Mob Ministry: A New Model for Instant Church
cialis online without prescription208.jpg” alt=”” width=”270″ height=”187″ />Blaine is the kind of young man who seems to have been born for church camp. He has a permanent smile on his…
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Why This Christian Will Never Own a Gun
As a Christian and a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) I often struggle with Scripture and how God intends for me to live in the world. Jesus and our faith…
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Slandering the Poor: An Exercise in Self-Righteousness
In the minds of some people any reference to the hard working poor is an oxymoron. Being poor and being hard working are mutually exclusive to them. People are poor…
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We Built This
By Morf Morford“‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone…
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When All of Abraham’s Children Share a Table: A Moment I’ll Never Forget
By Jon HuckinsHebron is known as one of the most volatile cities in the whole region of Israel/Palestine. Located in the heart of the West Bank, both Jews and Arabs have had…
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Lunch for Seniors or a Trip to Mars? Providing for the Least of These
A sure way to start a riot on Facebook is to post a political comment. Nobody agrees on anything political with the exception of the national debt: that it has…
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Lance Armstrong and the Way of Fallen Idols
I, like many people, was shocked when I heard today that cyclist Lance Armstrong gave up his fight against doping allegations, effectively forfeiting his seven Tour De France titles, his…
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The Church’s Doomed Pursuit of the Elusive Young Adult
It seems that everywhere you look today, “the church, ” especially within historic traditions, is talking about reaching that ever-elusive young adult demographic. Sometimes it feels like we are on some National Geographic…
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Red Letter Christians on Campus: Do We Have a Responsibility to Shut our Siblings Up?
An Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Florida, Dr. Charles Negy, has struck a nerve by sending an email to his unanaesthetized “Cross-Cultural Psychology” students challenging the…
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A Change That’s Hard to Believe In
photo via Political Party Pooper No one wants to talk about compromise unless they know someone else is meeting them halfway, or three-quarters of the way, or how about I…
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Dreams of Our Own: Revalidating Traditional Mayan Lifestyles
cialis salemala-Farming-300×196.jpg” alt=”” width=”270″ height=”176″ />Mario Benedetti, the Uruguayan novelist and poet who best expressed the aspirations and dreams of the oppressed of Latin America, once said: “Publicity is a…
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Planning for Poverty: The SNAP Challenge
I’ve said before that privilege often is invisible until you don’t have it. So in that light, I’m doing a little experiment in a few days with our family, and…
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The Universe Across Town
By Morf MorfordCan you picture what we’ll be So limitless and free Desperately in need of some stranger’s hand In a…desperate land! “The End” by the Doors I know most of the…
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Of Hell, Heaven, Sikhs and Christian education for little kids
By Kay CampbellWhat’s the goal of faith-based work: Getting people to believe something or offering help and healing regardless of beliefs? The recent experience of Elly Scott, a brilliant young writer in…
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I Will Pay 11 Cents — A Response to Papa John's
I’ll pay 11 cents, If you will provide health care for the people who work for you. I’ll pay 11 cents, To make sure a single mom does not have…
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Saved from Meritocracy
Americans pride ourselves on our system of meritocracy. We believe that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. We affirm that we got where we are because of our own skills…
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Can Porn be Used Responsibly?
By Kurt WillemsThis term at a local trade school I have the honor of teaching college level speech and ethics. My ethics class, to be honest, can be a challenge at times.…
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Are the Culture Wars Real? A Case for Heresy
Growing up, I heard things at camp and in youth group about how “the world” thought and acted one way, and how “we” were not like that. In fact the…
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Evangelicals and Space Exploration: Do We Have Curiosity?
Source: WikiMedia “Holding the stars is the man that carries my scars.” –P.O.D., Tribal Warriors “Who but You could breathe and leave a trail of galaxies and dream of me?”…
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Fraudulent Freedom and the Needs of the Poor
To claim Jesus called people to voluntarily help the poor and needy is true. But to go beyond that assertion and claim Jesus wouldn’t support – and we shouldn’t support…
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Lamenting and Learning from Hiroshima
Today marks the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Here’s a really meaningful way to remember the day, by reading the words of George Zabelka, who was…
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Another Week. More Innocent People Die. Wash. Rinse. Repeat
Last weekend I wrote in Red Letter Christians remembering the victims of the Aurora, Colorado and contrasting the paralyzing debate between gun control and weapon rights advocates with the nonviolent…
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Grandpa's Using Your Credit Card: Why the National Budget is a Moral Issue
By Ron SiderFor almost fifty years, the federal government has spent more (often much more) than it took in. Continuing that pattern for another ten or twenty years would lead to economic…
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My Quick Thought on Chick-Fil-A
By Andrew MarinI [Andrew] was just asked by a media outlet my thoughts on tonight’s LGBT Kiss-In Protest at Chick-Fil-A, and how Christians should respond. Here was my answer: This Chick-Fil-A situation…
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God Loves Losers: Reflections on the Olympics
I’m an Olympics junkie. Not only that, but I’m also most ardently pro-American when watching them. My wife, Amy, and I were watching synchronized platform diving two nights ago (honestly, when else would…
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10 Days to Make Love Practical
Have you ever felt moved to put it all on the line? Have you ever felt called to risk it all for the love we undergo when we open to…
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Learning to Speak: Chick-fil-A & our Inability to Dialogue
The culture wars wage on. It seems just about everyone has an opinion on Chick-fil-A these days. The “Do you like their chicken sandwiches and waffle fries?” discussion has been…
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American Christianity is at War Against Itself
By Kathy VestalAs the national political climate becomes increasingly more polarized and as religion increasingly identifies itself in political terms, we are seeing a widening divide in Christianity itself, one for which…
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Five Reasons Why Failure is Awesome
When I was in preschool, I was insanely jealous of the kids who were given speaking parts in the Christmas play. I actually “repeated” preschool because I was too young for…
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The Family that _______ Together, Stays Together?
“The Family that prays together, stays together.” The two sources I checked (here and here) disagree about who actually came up with the slogan, but both agree that it was…
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Clarence Jordan Never Said, “Nothing can be done.”
Clarence Jordan and Millard Fuller — Photo Courtesy of Fuller Center for Housing This Sunday marks what would have been the 100th birthday of farmer and New Testament scholar Clarence…
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Happy Birthday Clarence!
Happy Birthday Clarence! Sunday, July 29 would be the 100th birthday of Clarence Jordan, civil rights hero and co-founder of Koinonia Farm. He was a farmer, author, and scholar, and…
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The Olympics, Human Rights, and Holy Mischief
“God Is Love, ” inscribed on the tracksuit of the athlete who would become the second-fastest man alive, is what first caught the attention of Australian Olympic official Ray Weinberg…
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The Sacred Messiness of Life in Community
By Jon HuckinsJanna, a midwife at a local birthing center where a few of the babies in our community were born (including our little daughter, Ruby), made a sign of a cross…
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I’m Heterosexual and that's Not Okay
By Mal GreenThe title for this piece came to me after a focus group meeting on sexuality with some Incedo missionaries. This is not a research based paper. It is not a…
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Don't Let the Day Pass: The Tragedy of Joe Paterno
I first became a Penn State and Joe Paterno fan toward the close of the 1971 season. My late father-in-law called one afternoon from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. …
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The Myth of Redemptive Violence
I had a veteran friend once tell me, “The biggest lie I have ever been told is that violence is evil, except in war.” He went on, “My government told…
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Three Considerations for the Liberal Church
In response to the recent Episcopalian convention, Ross Douthat set off a firestorm with his column expressing “concern” that the liberal church is dying due to its theological incoherence. I’m…
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Physical Churches: Do They Matter Anymore?
By Jeremy JohnMicah Bales asked a deep question. He suggests that the wealth in property we’ve inherited is hindering our work for social justice. He talks provocatively (as a spiritual challenge, he…
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Oh Wow
By Morf MorfordWilliam Shakespeare, in ‘Hamlet’ describes death as “the undiscovered country” from which “no man returns”. And if we believe in God, there is only one thing we know for sure…
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An Open Letter to Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy
NOTE: This was written a day prior Chic-Fil-A made the public statement that their tradition “is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief,…
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Senseless Violence in the Theater and on the Screen
By RLC EditorDuring what one moviegoer hypothesized as “part of the movie, ” 12 people were shot and killed with 38 more wounded during a midnight showing of “The Dark Night Rises”…
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50 Shades of Broken: Why Do Women Fantasize About Abuse?
I first noticed it when I bought my Nook Color last year. Erotica. Everywhere. Written by and for women. So much for letting my kids peruse the free books section!…
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No Home, No Car, No Email: STILL Not Homeless
“So you sort of know what it’s like to be homeless?” This is what I’ve been hearing this week from very kind folks who’ve offered my family meals, beds, cars.…
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Where Is God When I'm Hurting?
By Kathy VestalShe read me my first Junie B. Jones book during one of the many lunch breaks she and Nicki spent in my office that semester. Although at 45 I might…
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Questionable Morality Amongst Pennsylvania Republicans
By Tony CampoloNot all Republicans are evil, but the leadership of the Republican Party in the state of Pennsylvania has questionable morality. With a Republican governor and a Republican Legislature a bill…
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'Pray Away the Gay' No More?
Late last week, Paul Burkhart jumped into the fray of online conversation surrounding Alan Chambers and Exodus International’s recent significant change in philosophy regarding ‘reparative therapy.’ On my personal site,…
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Jesus’ Invitation to the Discipline of “Wasting Time?”
By Jon HuckinsPhoto credit: Jon Huckins A few of us from our missional community asked one of the heroes of our neighborhood to sit down for a meal so we could hear…
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Ten Antidotes to Christian Cliches
This is the final in a four-part series on the overused (and often insensitively employed) phrases that plague the Christian lexicon. Though I felt like I was offering some insight…
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Mirror, mirror
By Morf MorfordWhen a baby looks in a mirror It sees an ever-deepening mystery, An ever-changing reversal of the familiar, Something known and unknown, Knowable, yet essentially unknowable. A mirror is a…
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Nine (Final) Christian Cliches to Avoid
Read article one in the series here: Ten Cliches Christians Should Never Use Read article two in the series here: Ten More Cliches Christians Should Avoid The response to this series of…
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God Did Not Write the Bible…
By Kathy Vestal. . . and that doesn’t hurt its holiness or its validity! When I was a child my Sunday School teachers used to say that God whispered the words of…
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Ten More Cliches Christians Should Avoid
After writing up my first list of Ten Cliches Christians Should Never Use, some folks wrote me with other suggestions. After simmering on it for a while, I came up…
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Rethinking the Roman Road: Paul’s Gospel and Violence
By Derek FloodWhen I was a teenager I learned to present the gospel using the “Four spiritual laws” tracts. This begins with a quote from Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall…
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Ten Cliches Christians Should Never Use
We Christians have a remarkable talent for sticking our feet in our mouths. When searching the words most commonly associated with “Christian, ” the list ain’t pretty. I think part…
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Christians Do Not Have Freedom of Speech
By Jason HessOne of the things that makes America so great is the ability to express yourself, much to the joy, and even pain, of those around you. The freedom of speech…
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I Went to Gay Pride
By Kathy VestalOK, so I am drawn to what is controversial. I want to be there, to see for myself, to make my own judgments. If an event divides decent people into…
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Is Patriotism Really Christian?
buy cialis onlinedth=”171″ height=”240″ />Fred Craddock tells of being on an airplane flight during which he visited with a woman who was returning from vacation. She had been to Switzerland,…
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Wild Goose: A Sacred and Safe Place
Love Wins Ministries’ exhibit at the Wild Goose Festival. Photo by Cathleen Falsani/Sojourners. By now, you have probably read about the Wild Goose Festival. You have heard about the big…
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Why singing “Our God is Greater” *might* make our God seem less great
By Kurt WillemsThere’s a song that has made its rounds in the evangelical church circuit called “Our God Is Greater.” This song is commendable on many levels. First, the melody is catchy.…
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"Basically good" and "I'm not a racist, but…"
No one wants to see the sin in themselves. We don’t like to look at our brokenness square in the face. We tend to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt because we know…
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No Bullies – No Victims
By Morf MorfordI and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. -W. H. Auden Sometimes an issue emerges in a culture that…
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Wild Goose 2012: An Exercise in Mindfulness
How do you know when someone has a Prius? Don’t worry; they’ll tell you. We got a Prius about four years ago, and immediately we bought into the hype about…
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5 Questions with Jon Huckins — Thin Places
Living as part of an intentional Christian community, I often search for other creative expressions of missional communities around the world. One such example that I love is NieuCommunities. It…
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Senator Coburn Says “Look What I Found”
At the first of the year I accepted my pastor’s challenge to read through the Bible. I’ve finished reading about the kings of Israel and Judah, and none of them…
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WWJB (What Would Jesus Brew)?
There’s a well-known saying, often attributed to Ben Franklin, about God and beer. I’ve even seen it on T-shirts and the like, but it turns out it’s mis-quoted. The one…
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Why I voted for Jesus instead of Obama in the primary
By Kurt WillemsWhy I voted for Jesus instead of Obama in the primary… Because, obviously, President Obama is uncontested during the primary election so nothing is actually on the line by writing…
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The Fallacy of Statements of Faith
A while back, I was applying for an editing job with a fairly prominent Christian media company, and in the application process, I was asked to sign a statement of…
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Hijacking Jesus for Partisan Gain
It really gets old, doesn’t it? Every election cycle, the story is the same. This Christian says that Christian is not really a Christian. And why is that? Is it…
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BREAKING: Obama administration stops deporting young immigrants
By RLC EditorA day after the Evangelical Immigration Table released their “Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform, ” the Obama administration stepped forward to announce they will stop deporting young illegal…
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Screw Your Neighbor
By Morf MorfordHave your ever noticed how we so easily invert traditional – even Biblical sayings and values? We might call ourselves Christians, but our language, if not our behavior, will betray…
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Look Up America! An Interview with Gary Moore
By RLC EditorIn a society of 24/7 media, political pundits and an “economic crisis” once a day, Gary Moore is a prophet. His latest book, Look Up America, carries the subtitle: “Financial…
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Thin Places: Glimpses of a New Narrative
By Jon Huckins(Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images) We live in the downtown neighborhood of Golden Hill in San Diego. It is a place that contains a multitude of narratives. At times they…
