by Mary Lynn Derstine (originally published on December 10, 2020) “Do you feel safe?” is a question people often asked me while I was in Iraq. Safety is a concern to many. I hear parents wondering if they should let their teenagers go places and get jobs because, “Is it safe?” We try to be safe as we become adults. Most of us don’t pick up hitch hikers (or maybe you do?)…
https://youtu.be/ZFsbGgmo4x0 Today I am teaching my students in the historical theology class about the Atonement. I wanted to find some different opinions surrounding the doctrine of the Atonement. I found a few, and I will warn you, these are some pretty strong words. I chose clips that purposefully conflict with each other. Dean Taylor As seen in the video compiled by brother Dean Taylor above, debates around atonement theory in the Christian…
What does justice mean in the Kingdom of God? When faced with dire situations like enslavement and violence, how do we involve state authorities as Christians? Is there a temptation for Christians to seek power for ourselves in seeking justice for the oppressed? Today, Joash Thomas, National Director of Mobilization and Advocacy with IJM Canada, joins Derek (Fourth Way Podcast), Titus (That Jesus Podcast) and Rebekah for a conversation about justice, the…
This little-known sermon by Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a poignant take on human suffering and what God's love means to us and to others. It was preached at a Harvest Festival in Berlin on October 4, 1931. “Your steadfast love is better than life” (Psalm 63:3) Two and a half millennia have passed since that ancient Jewish saint, far from Jerusalem and his homeland, devoured by misery in body and soul, surrounded by…
We meet Christ at the cross. If we have not felt the sharp pain of the piercing cross into the core of our being, and experienced the disgraceful death that is found there; the dying exposed, before the scorn and scoffing of the whole world; then we have not known Christ.
"Kingship", a sermon by George MacDonald, was first published in 1867. The entire e-book is available on Project Gutenberg. As part of our "classics" series, we have shared excerpts of writings such as by Pilgram Marpeck and Janneken Muntsdorp. A reader recently recommended we share some of George MacDonald's writings as well - do send us your recommendations for resources and writings that focus on Christ's Kingdom! Art thou a king then?…
It's particularly interesting when Christian and academic worlds intersect, particularly on a current socio-political issue like "critical race theory". Across the Christian world, we see a lot of debate about what this really means and how it affects us as Christians. In fact, we hear a lot of allegations that it's fundamentally "anti-gospel". One particular resource I would like to recommend is the recent series by Asher Witmer on "Critical Race Theory".…