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If Rip Van Winkle, the fictional heavy sleeper of Washington Irving’s short story, had awakened from his long nap in the 21st Century and entered a Christian bookstore – or his local Barnes & Noble for that matter – what he’d see in the Bible section might disorient him for a minute or two. The range of choices available in Bibles today is astonishing. At bookstores, there are Scriptures for just about every taste and style, in translations ranging from the King James to the New Century Version and beyond. ChristianBook.com, a popular retail Web site, offers more than 3,900…
Groundbreaking actress and Christian performer Naima Lett is determined to give five biblical women their 15 minutes of fame. Eve, Jezebel, Leah, Tamar and Mary, the mother of Jesus, get a fresh look in Shattered Silhouettes, which weaves together the modern issues of love, abuse and hope. Read more of this story.
At a time when the country was bitterly debating the role of religion in public life, we thought Graham’s 50-year courtship of–and courtship by–11 Presidents was a story that needed to be told. Perhaps more than anyone else, he had shaped the contours of American public religion and had seen close up how the Oval Office affects people.Read more of this story.
Two in three Americans (67%) say they consider the United States to be a Christian nation — down just slightly from 71% in March 2006 but up significantly from the percentage who said so a decade ago. In 1996, 60% of Americans tied the nation’s identity to Christianity; by 2002, the figure had climbed to 67%, and since then views on this question have remained fairly consistent.Read more of this story.
Chicago – In a groundbreaking decision, members at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s national assembly passed a resolution Saturday urging church authorities to refrain from, or to use restraint in, disciplining homosexual pastors in committed, same-sex relationships.Read more of this story.Tom Heinen’s earlier report on the ELCA convention.
While the House of Repre-sentatives hashed out their version of the 2007 Farm Bill two weeks ago, farmer Phil Flock prayed for rain.His corn, which primarily goes to feed about 70 dairy heifers and 60 cows, 15 head of beef and 16 sheep at his Cashton, Wis., farm, was beginning to curl from the dry summer.That night, rain fell.Read more of this story.Crop of Concerns – CHRISTIANITY TODAY
COMMENTARYIt’s always interesting when a cultural artifact becomes a cultural phenomenon. There was not a lot of initial promotion for the first Harry Potter book, and expectations were modest. But somehow word-of-mouth buzz moved the series past a tipping point, and Harry Potter became something larger. No longer was J. K. Rowling an unknown author laboring in obscurity. She became an international media celebrity, wealthier than the Queen of England, with millions of fans around the world clamoring for every word and detail about Harry.This makes me wonder—what would it look like if we saw comparable levels of Harry Potter…
Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds. Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church. Read more of this story.
— There are no crosses in Makoto Fujimura’s paintings. No images of Jesus gazing into the distance, or serene scenes of churches in a snow-cloaked wood.Fujimura’s abstract works speak to his evangelical Christian faith. But to find it takes some digging.Read more of this story.
LONGWOOD, Fla. — At 8 on a Saturday morning, just as the heat was permeating this sprawling Orlando suburb, Denise Kirsop donned a white plastic moon suit and began sorting through the trash produced by Northland Church.Read the rest of this story.