Author: Gordon Govier

Forgiveness is like gift giving, said theologian Miroslav Volf. He used the example of a gift sent to his sister, who might find all kinds of reasons not to accept something sent by her brother. "The gift is still valid and important," he told a questioner who wanted to know if forgiveness was conditional upon the recipient showing remorse for their actions.

When Justin Moore and his wife, Bonnie, cut up their credit cards in a show of financial freedom earlier this year, they did it in front of a group of supporters—at church.Moore, 25, works as an information technology coordinator for a staffing agency in Shelby, N.C., but on Sunday nights he heads back to church to serve as a group coordinator for a local course of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Ramsey, an author and radio show host, created the popular 13-week program, which covers getting out of debt, living on a budget, and establishing better money management skills. It’s…

COMMENTARYThe Institute for American Values and the Georgia Family Council have just released a sobering study titled “The Taxpayer Cost of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing.” The study notes that while the debate on marriage usually focuses on its social, moral, and religious qualities, marriage is also an “economic institution.” It is a “powerful creator of human and social capital.”Read more of this commentaryWisconsin Family Council

Only 9 percent of all born again adults gave 10 percent of their income to churches and charitable groups, a new survey revealed.While the practice of tithing and whether it is a biblical responsibility is still debated today, The Barna Group found that very few Americans, including Christians, give tithe.Read more of this story.

More than 2,300 people from the four-county area gathered Sunday to launch a major new effort to build a diverse, nonpartisan political organization to tackle the social issues facing Milwaukee and the surrounding area.Read more of this story.

Well, at least this time CNN didn’t ask the presidential candidates to disclose the biggest sin they’ve committed.But while Soledad O’Brien’s infamous question from the June 2007 Sojourners Presidential Forum didn’t make an appearance, much of tonight’s “Compassion Forum” at Messiah College had the same vibe as that event: questions about policy and decision-making were overshadowed by the journalists’ odd stabs at what they thought religious folks really wanted to know about. As in the Sojourners event, for example, the moderator asked about literal seven-day creationism.Read more of this story.

The human dimensions of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, in all of its complexity, is presented in the Step Into Africa exhibit now open at Blackhawk Church through Monday evening. "It’s presented in a way that people can understand," says Bwalya Melu, former director of World Vision Zambia. "People can respond and take the first step towards being part of the solution."

At one hotel in Nashville, when you feel like a bit of religious reading before bedtime, you’ll have more than a Gideon Bible to choose from.The Hotel Preston recently started offering a "spiritual menu" to its guests, including the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita and additional versions of the Bible.Read more of this story. History: Gideon’s Wisconsin origin The Boscobel Hotel

A bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is asking churchgoers in southeastern Wisconsin to consider donating a portion of their economic stimulus checks, which the federal government plans to begin mailing next month.Read more of this story.

MADISON — The St. Vincent de Paul thrift store at 6301 Odana Rd. in Madison will celebrate its grand opening today, April 9. From 9 a.m. until 7:45 p.m., the public is invited to tour and shop the new store and enjoy refreshments to mark the occasion.