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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.
CHICAGO (BP)–A coalition of legal and pro-family groups asked the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals July 7 to reverse a lower court ruling and declare the National Day of Prayer constitutional, asserting that the district court’s decision amounted to "an act of hostility to religion." The 28-page friend-of-the-court brief was filed nearly three months after U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb (of Madison) ruled that a congressional statute setting aside the first Thursday of May each year for the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and amounts to a government establishment of religion. The Justice Department, which has the responsibility…
COMMENTARYOn June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court—in a bitterly divided 5–4 vote—upheld a public university’s right to enforce an "all-comers" antidiscrimination policy against a student group affiliated with the Christian Legal Society (CLS). As president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA—and as a former professor of law—I have concerns about how this decision may impact our 860 chapters and other campus ministries.
COMMENTARYThis past weekend Chicago, along with many other US cities, celebrated Gay Pride with a parade. As a part of the weekend, Nathan and a group of over 30 Christians from various Chicago churches went to demonstrate at the Gay Pride Parade with the Marin Foundation.Their demonstration was much different, though.While the most vocal “Christian” presence at the parade was in the form of protesters with “God Hates Fags” signs, Nathan and a team from the Marin Foundation took a different approach… they chose to apologize.