Pastor Russell E. Saltzman writes, "We think that if we can explain this wild crazy stuff we can tame it, make sense of it, make it yield before us and explain itself. But that isn’t so. The unknown is no calmer, no safer when rationalized, examined, and explained. The chaos that sometimes erupts, exploding over and within own communities and neighborhoods, within your life and mine can be no more comprehensible when demons are dismissed in favor of 'scientific' and…
In reflecting on the Virgin Mary and the gift of human life, the Rev. Dr. Amy C. Schifrin writes, "When a church acts as if no longer believes that the resurrected Christ’s body is truly present at the altar, it would have no reason to believe that He is fully present as Lord in the tabernacle of his mother’s body."
The Rev. Kerry L. Bender writes, "Your unique style, voice and personality can be used by God to communicate His truth if it is made subservient to the Word of God. Of course this is key: we must keep our personalities subservient to the Word of God. There is always the danger of allowing the power of a dynamic personality to overtake the power of the gospel. Therefore, it is…
The Rev. Dr. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson is a Lutheran minister and currently assistant research professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. In this interview, we speak with her about the state of ecumenism in light of the changing shape of Christian faith in the 21st century. She says, "Since ecumenism originated in the mission field, I think its future lies in mission too."
Dr. James Edwards writes, "What is the proper understanding of faith and works, law and grace, Old and New Testament? We are brought into a right relationship with God through faith and trust in his saving word to us. The law is added as a guide for deeds and behaviors pleasing to God and productive for life as God intended it. In meeting the requirements of the law we discover…
