MC News
COMMENTARYWhen huge pain comes into your life—like divorce, or the loss of a precious family member, or the dream of wholeness shattered—it is good to have a few things settled with God ahead of time. The reason for this is not because it makes grieving easy, but because it gives focus and boundaries for the pain. Read more of this commentary.
SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — A new church in Sun Prairie is hoping a mix of faith and technology will provide a successful Sunday service. Heartland Community Church was formed when two Sun Prairie churches combined, reported WISC-TV. On Sunday, the new church held it’s first service.Read more of this story.
My daughter, Amanda, had recently turned 21, and I was ready for her to leave home. Yes, I was! I know there are some mothers who say they never want their children to leave, but I am not one of them. As a matter of fact, I’m an advocate of the old saying: "Every hen needs her own nest!"Read more of this story.
Worshipers come to St. Mary, Mother of God in downtown Washington, D.C., for various reasons, but many say that a big draw is the Tridentine Latin mass that is said here every Sunday. Soon, St. Mary may be less well known for that distinctive liturgical offering than for the number of big-name government and media types that occupy its pews. Now that Pope Benedict XVI has loosened the restrictions on churches that want to observe the pre-Vatican II rite, more parishes are availing themselves of the option. Call it part of a larger conservative shift within the church—one that includes…
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Paul Filidis thought little of Christianity as he backpacked through Afghanistan in the early 1970s, searching for top-grade hashish and Eastern enlightenment.Then his passport was stolen and he took shelter with a group of missionaries who had moved to Kabul to help wanderers on the hippie trail. "They looked just like me," Filidis said.The missionaries took Filidis in and helped him get a new passport. Filidis, who had believed Christianity was only for old people, eventually became a convert. He has spent the last three decades with that group, Youth With a Mission.Read more of this…
American Christians love to hear about areas of the world where Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds. Conversions are daily statistics in many African nations, as in South America, India, and China. According to some credible estimates, China’s Christian population has multiplied by an astounding 3,200 percent since 1949, now nearing 130 million believers.The growth story should always delight us. But we should be simultaneously distressed about the decline story, especially that of Christianity in the Middle East.Read more of this story.
Just weeks ago, much was made of the demise of the one of America’s largest voting blocs. The, "extraordinary evangelical love affair with Bush ended in heartbreak over the Iraq war and what they see as his meager domestic accomplishments," wrote The New York Times David D. Kirkpatrick. Evangelicals would no longer cast deciding votes in presidential elections–for at least six weeks.Then came the surprising rise of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is neck and neck with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Read more of this story.
Christmas is peak season for sales of children’s Bible storybooks. The lavishly illustrated collections vary from literal booklets that don’t hesitate to lay down the line against sin, to imaginative variations such as one where a butterfly hovers by Christ at the Crucifixion. Read more of this story.
Now comes the first wave of baby boomers entering retirement, and Don Parrott believes they’ve got a lot more left inside them that would further the Kingdom of God. That’s why Parrott wants them for the Finishers Project, so boomers can “finish out their lives strong” in service to others at home or abroad.Read more of this story.
How to respond to the next blockbuster book/documentary/movie that questions traditional Christianity.Not long ago, topics like textual criticism and the extra-biblical Gospels elicited yawns from my seminary students. I went through the obligatory motions of covering these staples of New Testament study, knowing that no matter how hard I tried, questions would be rare and engagement minimal.All that has changed. Topics like the James ossuary and the Gospel of Judas have hit Times Square, not only pricking the attention of seminary students, but also garnering coverage from journalists and culture-watchers, from CBS News’s traditional news team to 360 Degrees’s Anderson…