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Not unlike the large corporations retooling to deal with impending bankruptcy in the current economic depression, a small Madison media production company is retooling to confront the moral depression caused by the bankrupt values of today’s ubiquitous media culture. They’re launching this new media ministry under the umbrella of Advance K, a church/outreach located in a former laundromat at 555 W. Mifflin Street. Marv and Beth Turner returned to Madison from a trip to Africa two years ago with a hunger to walk closer to God and allow their faith in God to direct their lifestyle. The vibrant faith they…
Abortionist George Tiller was shot and killed at his church in Kansas Sunday morning. Vigil for Life condemns this act of violence and resolves to continue to follow the example set by civil rights leaders throughout history who have peacefully worked to ensure the dignity of every human being is respected. We also urge you to pray for the soul of Dr. Tiller, for his family, and for the repentance of his assailant.
During the social upheaval of the 1970s and early 1980s, American churches began putting a much higher priority on fighting homelessness. Nearly 40 years later, these food, shelter, and outreach ministries continue. Philip Mangano, a manager in the 1970s with the late Larry Norman’s Solid Rock Records, owner of Street Level Artists Agency, and a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, was among the pioneers in Christian rock and the fight against homelessness.Since 2002, Mangano has served as executive director of the federal Interagency Council on Homelessness. He has been shaking up the world of homeless outreach by saying that rapid…
Andrew Marin is a twentysomething graduate of the University of Illinois, Chicago, living in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood. A self-professed "Bible-banging homophobe" as a teenager, Marin experienced an awakening of sorts while in college when several of his closest friends told him they were gay. Determined to try to shed his prejudices, Marin embarked on a mission to get to know as many gay people as he could. He began frequenting gay bars, looking up gay clergy and asking to meet with them, exchanging emails with new gay friends he met online, and showing up at public gay events. The result…
We’ve all heard the stories about near-death experiences: the tunnel, the white light, the encounter with long-dead relatives now looking very much alive. Scientists have cast a skeptical eye on these accounts. They say that these feelings and visions are simply the result of a brain shutting down. But now some researchers are giving a closer neurological look at near-death experiences and asking: Can your mind operate when your brain has stopped? Read more of this story.
I’ve heard the quote once too often. It’s time to set the record straight—about the quote, and about the gospel. Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."This saying is carted out whenever someone wants to suggest that Christians talk about the gospel too much, and live the gospel too little. Fair enough—that can be a problem. Much of the rhetorical power of the quotation comes from the assumption that Francis not only said it but lived it.The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live…
Phil Stacey is a man of many perspectives. A preacher’s kid and product of a Bible college, he joined the Navy after 9/11, made it to the Top Five of American Idol, signed with a secular label, made a country record, and is now reintroducing himself to the Christian music world via Reunion Records. A new album is planned for later this summer.Read more of this story.Read about Phil Stacey’s upcoming appearance in Janesville.
More than 700 volunteers representing Door Creek Church, an Evangelical Free Church congregation on the eastern edge of Madison, fanned out across Madison and surrounding communities May 16th-17th, for Serve09. They volunteered their assistance for 51 different projects, benefitting organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA, Schenck School, Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Lake Waubesa Bible Camp, CareNet, Karmenta Nursing Home, Second Harvest, Salvation Army, Ronald McDonald House, Sun Prairie Head Start and Columbus Kindred Kids.
(UNDATED) At Prime Outlets in Huntley, Ill., a former Mikasa fine china store will soon become the home of Christian Life Church. “This provided an opportunity, from moving from being kind of a homeless church, if you will, to find a home,” said Pastor Daryl Merrill, whose church had been renting space weekly at a local hotel as it started an off-shoot of the main congregation based in Mount Prospect, Ill. Read more of this story.
President Dwight Eisenhower’s Civil Rights Commission faced high hurdles as it searched for common ground in the tense years after the U.S. Supreme Court began attacking the walls of segregation inside America’s schools.After several years of struggle, Father Theodore Hesburgh discovered a bond between his commission colleagues that transcended race and regional differences, noted President Barack Obama, in his historic commencement address at the University of Notre Dame.All of them liked to fish. Thus, the president of America’s most famous Catholic institution — he served for 35 years — arranged for a twilight cruise on the lake at Notre Dame’s…