Certain segments of social media were dominated this spring by the daily courtroom duels between the teams of Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp in the epic defamation trial between them. In brief, Depp sued Heard over her public allegations that he abused her (and Heard counter-sued). Celebrity gossip
By Thomas Lambrecht Recently, United Methodist News Service, along with several bishops, has issued articles aimed at correcting what they perceive to be misinformation being shared about what The United Methodist Church will become in the future. Unfortunately, some of what they share about perceived misinformation is itself misinformed.
1After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the
Why Smaller Churches Are Making a Comeback For several decades, the larger church and the megachurch have received a lot of attention. We are now seeing a renewed focus on healthy smaller churches. In this podcast Mark Clifton and Thom Rainer look at the reasons why this phenomenon is taking
Among the “great metaphors”[1] that characterize the texts of the Second Vatican Council, the “signs of the times” from the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes (GS §4) has received special attention. Karl Lehmann saw in it a “central legacy of the Council” that is still a task for today.[2] According to Joseph
Always seeking after fulfillment, yet unable to truly reach outside of himself in any creative act, Swann in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is both a pathetic and a tragic character whose example leaves a deep impression on the narrator of the novel. Throughout the story of Swann’s
Recently I prepared for a Sunday School lesson on the story of Job. I listened to a number of podcasts about the story. I looked over the Church’s materials and videos. I studied the NIV Study Bible and the Dictionary of the Bible. But I didn’t end up feeling I
By Simon Mafunda The intriguing and inexplicable ways in which Jesus Christ works reminds me of an incident at my home in Zimbabwe a couple of months ago. I urgently needed to support a couple of my tomato plants which were starting to fall over with fruit. I retrieved a