Author: Gordon Govier

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (RNS) From his Old Testament beard down to his scuffed boots and battered Bible, Alan Farley looks the perfect picture of a Civil War chaplain. On a dusty field five miles from where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought 147 years ago, Farley acts the part as well, thundering sermons from his home-made pulpit, praying with bedraggled soldiers, and handing out tracts with titles like “Everlasting Punishment.” The thousands of soldiers and spectators at the Gettysburg Civil War Battle Re-enactment in early July could be forgiven for swallowing the chaplain’s performance—the tracts look aged, the religion old time. …

People listening to their pastor preach on Sunday morning may now ask a question that no one has ever asked before: Is this live or is this on tape delay?More pastors are using high-def videos, and even holograms, to beam their Sunday morning sermons to remote "satellite" churches that belong to their congregation.

Between “sexting,” cyber bullying, and bikinis with padded tops for 7-year-olds, James Dobson thinks mainstream culture doesn’t offer girls a pretty picture. Dobson’s Bringing Up Girls (Tyndale) is the sequel to Bringing Up Boys, which has sold more than two million copies to date. The founder of Focus on the Family says that one of his favorite letters came from a 14-year-old girl. “I hate you dr. dobson,” she wrote. “I had to watch the dumbest movie today about sex. You made the movie. HA! Like you’d know anything about it.” Parents are producing strong-willed children, Dobson says, and he…

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — The cornerback steered his custom truck through familiar streets. The ex-convict sat shotgun and pointed out landmarks, this “drug hole,” that “crack house,” the best routes for eluding the police. The cornerback is Al Harris. He wears No. 31 for the Green Bay Packers. The ex-convict is Kevin Soto. He wore No. 693430 in the Florida Department of Corrections. They met 25 years ago, two boys from the same neighborhood north of Miami, bonded by break dancing and back flips and music above all else. That was before Harris went to the N.F.L., before Soto went…

In 1962, my parents picked up a 3-month-old boy from a Minneapolis children’s home. Instead of a shower or welcoming committee, they came home to silence and sideways looks. They were adopting at a time when the decision was considered a response to an epic reproductive failure, something not discussed in polite company.

As the oil continues to spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what to do about off-shore drilling and the regulation of the oil industry is cause for debate in Congress and among coastal residents. Now add to this another dimension: religion. The Southern Baptist Convention has used notably strong language to call on the government — and its own congregation — to work to prevent such a crisis again.

VATICAN CITY — The Swiss Guards wave you through St. Anne’s Gate, the business entrance into the Holy See.The bustle of tourists fades behind the high wall, replaced by the burbling of a fountain as your guide, dapper Belgian publisher Paul Van den Heuvel, leads you into a hidden courtyard behind the papal residence. On a far wall are metal doors carved with scenes celebrating Egyptian papyrus, medieval manuscripts and monks’ scrolls. Through the doors, a plaque on the wall greets visitors to the VATICAVM TABVLARVM, Latin for Vatican records office.

COMMENTARYToday countless children grow up begging and grabbing and clinging onto all the things money can buy. As adults, they rarely outgrow this shallow self-centeredness, but simply graduate to more money and bigger toys. Living their lives on earth as if this were all there is, they fail to prepare for their eternal future.Christ told the story of a rich fool, to whom God said, “This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but…

From the printing press to the radio to the Internet, advances in communication technology have almost always instigated rapid and profound changes in religious practice. The proliferation of mobile devices like the iPhone is currently provoking a similarly profound change, simultaneously allowing worshippers to craft a personal religious environment in an otherwise secular world, but also diluting many practices central to all religions.

The 12th annual Lifest has drawn thousands to the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh, Wis., for five days of music, messages, fun and fellowship despite the festival’s latest controversy.After kicking off Wednesday night with music from popular Christian artists Sara Groves, Mark Schultz, and Family Force 5, Lifest attendees will be rocking to the sounds of more than 60 groups and artists up through Sunday, including Casting Crowns, Newsboys, Rebecca St. James, Point of Grace, and Matt Redman, among others.