Jesus’ lordship is not good news for those who want to use him to become kings themselves. This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. If you’re one of the very-online white nationalists who decided during Holy Week to claim the hashtag “Christ is king” as an antisemitic troll, I’ve got what might seem…
Every year, we celebrate a dying and rising God who fulfills the hopes of ages past. If you’ve ever attended a liturgical church during Holy Week, you’ve likely recited the Apostles’ Creed—a confession that affirms the climactic events of Jesus’ life. At the heart of this confession, between the phrases “was crucified, died, and was…
Few Protestant traditions continue the footwashing that Jesus did at the Last Supper. Some want a revival of the practice. Americans get cold feet when it comes to footwashing, experts say. Maundy Thursday is a Holy Week service marking the Last Supper. In some faith traditions, that service has included footwashing from the example in…
Everything is different because Jesus rose again. But do we live as if we understand he is alive? In the summer of 2022, I visited the charming Alpine town of Oberammergau, Germany. I wandered its leafy streets lined with mural-painted houses, their balconies overflowing with flower boxes. After indulging in ice cream and shopping for…
What Jesus’ midnight prayer in the garden tells us about cosmic conflict in the supernatural realm. “Father, if it is your will, please heal your servant; yet not our will, but yours be done.” As a child, I recall hearing this kind of prayer and feeling deeply puzzled. If it is your will? I thought….
As Moscow and Kyiv trade insinuations over concert hall killing claimed by ISIS affiliate, Christian leaders focus on compassion and forgiveness instead of blame. Russian evangelicals used Sunday sermons to condemn a terrorist attack that killed more than 130 people at a Moscow concert hall. As Russia’s Baptist union prayed for “God’s mercy and protection,”…
Sandra Glahn studies the record of an Ephesian goddess to aid our reading of a challenging passage. As a female New Testament scholar, I simply do not have the luxury of avoiding 1 Timothy 2:11–15, where Paul, after stating that women should “learn in quietness and full submission,” claims they “will be saved through childbearing.”…
In the village of Kemadang, long dry spells threatened local farmers’ livelihoods until a church-led granary brought hope. Standing in her rice field in the rural village of Kemadang along the southern coast of Java, 53-year-old Marni Mariani pointed to the dry soil at her feet. “This is the land that we will harvest in…
The “cheerful prudery” of Ned Flanders has given way to vulgarity, misogyny, and partisanship. What does this mean for our witness? This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. I guess Ned Flanders goes to strip clubs now. Until this week, I hadn’t thought about the caricatured born-again Christian neighbor on the animated…
Rather than follow the equal protections secured in Supreme Court decisions, the Biden administration opted for a complicated and soul-killing alternative. Nine federal departments have issued new regulations governing social service grants for a range of programs including drug rehabilitation; assisting penitentiary inmates reentering their communities; sheltering the homeless; aiding needy families with dependent children;…
