Posts Categorized: Social witness

Barn Boots and Blessings

Someday is now Seeing the God dreams right in front of us by Donna Frischknecht Jackson   The Christmas tree is losing its needles and the cutout Santa cookies are beyond stale. Christmas 2017 is fast-becoming a memory. All eyes are now on 2018. That means our eyes are on the goals and dreams we… Read more »

The Unglued Church

The Whole World is Watching Where should Christians stand in the face of evil? by Susan Rothenberg Lately, I’ve been thinking about a quote from the Woody Allen movie, “Manhattan.” “Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey? Y’know, I read this in the newspaper. We should go down there, get some… Read more »

Writing from the Margins

Being Peacemakers Does Jesus call us to irrational pacifism? By Antonio (Tony) Aja There is a lot of noise these days about ‘’war and rumors of war’’ from many parts of the world, including our own nation. What I mean by ‘’noise’’ is the rhetoric and actions taking place in countries like North Korea, Southern… Read more »

Writing from the Margins

Civility or Resistance? Practicing Jesus-centered justice By Antonio (Tony) Aja After the shooting of Republican Congress members by a mentally ill person on a baseball field, many of the opposite side of my political and theological worldview started to say that we need to be ‘’civil,’’ stop naming others with pejorative epithets and lower the… Read more »

Not Quite Right

Don’t let the church become fake news Proclaiming good news in a divided culture By Joshua Bower   Our culture is in the grip of a “fake news” epidemic. Christians are falling prey to it, and, if we’re not careful, the church’s witness could be deeply harmed. Before I go any further, I need to… Read more »

I Do?

One Marriage License or Two Fishing Licenses? How legal marriage has skewed the Christian view of marriage By Jeffrey A. Schooley In early June 2007, I drove to the Summit County (OH) court house with my friend Than to get my marriage license. My wife-to-be, Brianne, was planning to meet us there. She ran late…. Read more »

God in all things

Big Events Call for Big Responses Gathering in Cleveland draws a crowd By Mary Robin Craig As the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland came to a close, I spent a couple of hours downtown, wandering around to take pictures and to soak up the atmosphere – for the most part cheerful, hospitable, and relaxed. Three… Read more »

justleros: more than nonsense / más que disparates

You can’t go through life A prayer poem to reflect on the mass shooting in Orlando by Magdalena I. García By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.  Galatians 5:22–23 You can’t go through life sowing seeds of… Read more »

TLC: Think Like a Christian

By Jeffrey A. Schooley  Regressing? What to do when there aren’t many pros in being progressive I’m probably a progressive Christian. But I didn’t start that way. In fact, I didn’t start as a Christian at all. I [insert your preferred language for converting here] during my senior year of high school. And when I did… Read more »

Writing in the Margins

Thinking with a not-so-colonized mind   Why I (still) love Pope FrancisHow a humble priest from the slums of Buenos Aires has changed the face of Catholicism (and Christianity) for me, despite him not being everything I want by Antonio “Tony” Aja I am a Presbyterian pastor. I try to follow the tenets of the… Read more »