How can I summarize Christian-Muslim relations? Let's just say it's complicated. Whether we lay the blame on Muslim wars of expansion or retaliation by Christian crusades, both religions share blame for mistreating one another. Muslim Moors...
I feature some people for prayer more than once, especially those for whom more is written, and prayers are more plentiful. Such is the case with Martin Luther (1486-1546). This is now the fourth time I have highlighted one of his prayers. While...
Once upon a time, there was a season called Advent, but it has fallen on hard times in recent years. The reason for its decline will hardly surprise you. There’s no money to be made in Advent! Christmas is what drives the money train. This would...
Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed the sale and separation of enslaved families as a critique against slavery in her groundbreaking novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The death of Harriet's eighteen-month-old son Samuel of cholera gave her deep empathy for...
The Social Gospel movement in America emerged in the late nineteenth century in the wake of rising urban industrialization. Preachers and revivalists continued to rail against the social vices of drinking, smoking, and extramarital sex, but now, a...
What is the difference between a Pilgrim and a Puritan? Pilgrims were a name given to a small band of English immigrants who came to America in 1620 on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth. They were originally called "Separatists" for breaking...
Aristotle praised moderation as a virtue. Given how much polarization there is in American politics right now, I concur with Aristotle's sentiment. In Christian parlance, moderation is closely aligned with the biblical word "temperance." Edward...
Some people have an influence disproportionate to their humble circumstances. Wilhelm Loehe (also spelled Lohe, 1808-1872) is one such person. Wilhelm was derogatorily labeled "a pietist" by the examiner grading his trial sermon. It was the age of...
As I reflected on today's prayer, I had a flashback of sitting in a seminary class studying Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. As my professor was explaining the conflict in the Corinthian church, he described Corinthian believers as...
The enrollment cliff is coming to a college near you. The college-age population in America is shrinking, and universities are now feeling the squeeze. If you add higher tuition costs and increased debt load to the mix, you can appreciate why...
He was a career ambassador for Prussia (nineteenth century German Empire). He was good at what he did since diplomacy was his strong suit. Baron Christian Charles Josia von Bunsen (1791-1863) was appointed ambassador to Rome, having earned a...
Lady Elizabeth de Grave left church one Sunday despondent over the state of her soul. After listening to the preacher pronounce God's judgment for those who transgress the law, doubts about her salvation kicked into high gear. Maybe she was kidding...
Teaching was his "sacred calling." He tried his hand at preaching but soon realized his skills were best served by providing young African Americans with the best education possible. Benjamin Griffith Brawley (1882-1939) showed early academic...
John Harvard and his wife Anne sailed to America in 1637. John was assigned to lead a Boston church but died within the year of tuberculosis at the tender age of 31. He donated his library of four hundred books and half of his considerable estate...
Two teenage girls, Susan and Anna, were plucked from their swanky Manhattan townhome to relocate to a dilapidated farmhouse on a deserted island that years earlier had protected the Hudson River Valley from invading British forces during the...
It was a time of massive religious and political upheaval. England was in the throes of a civil war, and Christians were at each other's throats. Whoever was in charge, whether Protestants or Catholics, could find nothing good in each other and...
John and Amelia Schenck owned a farm in Deer Park, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati) during the Civil War. Their family farm also provided refuge for escaped slaves, aided by the Underground Railroad. John and Clara Ann Thompson fled their enslavement...
It may be the most vexing question in Scripture--why do the wicked prosper? David asks it in the Psalms (Ps. 73.3), as does Habakkuk (Hak. 1.3-4), and who can forget Job’s running debate with his friends over seeming injustice? The prayer Jeremiah...