Tag Archives: Christianity Today Magazine

Finding faith was about returning to Christianity’s roots for America’s most influential Methodist theologian. Thomas Clark Oden (1931–2016) was born when Herbert Hoover was president and died after the election of Donald Trump. His long and productive life cut a major swath across the landscape of American social, political, and religious history. He was oneContinue reading “Reversed Thunder: A Tribute to Thomas C. Oden (1931-2016)”

Fortune 500 CEO Brad Hewitt’s wisdom for moving past our insatiable cravings. My Grandpa Colby was a young teen when he was summoned to a neighbor’s farm to help milk a less-than-cooperative cow. Apparently the farmer was off on a drinking binge and had abandoned the cow for days. She was miserably full of milkContinue reading “How to Be at Peace and Get What You Want”

Leverage your commuting members to plant new churches. What happens when you plot four million commutes on a map? No, this is not a bad joke. The answer is not exhaust clouds, headaches, or road rage. What you actually get is a different picture of the mega-regions—a cluster of interconnected cities. A few years back,Continue reading “Church Planting and Commuting in the Mega-Regions”

Church planted by pioneers seeks to reach hipsters MCC is a church planted by pioneers from Illinois 160 years ago. Throughout those 16 decades it is a church that has seen some major highs and painful lows. This legacy has included the season when the building was condemned, to an Easter they had an attendanceContinue reading “Breaking the 200 Barrier: Monmouth Christian Church in Monmouth, Oregon”

The Decline of Christian Evangelism … and What We Can Do About It Ed, you study the big picture of evangelism in America today. Give us a snapshot. American Christians have moved away from a focus on sharing the gospel. Historically, there are seasons to this, where people emphasize gospel proclamation for a while, thenContinue reading “Stand and Share: My Interview with Outreach Magazine”

As our nation deals with division and distrust, how do we approach this liturgical season? There’s never been a year when I was so eager for Advent to begin. This past church year began with the San Bernardino shootings. We saw the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Terence Crutcher, the ambush of policeContinue reading “Practicing Advent in a Time of Turbulence”

Bombing on Muhammad’s birthday is worst terrorist targeting of Copts since 2011. At least 25 people were killed and 49 injured when a bomb exploded around 10am this morning during a worship service at the spiritual center of Christianity in Egypt. It is the worst terrorist attack on Copts since the New Year’s bombing ofContinue reading “Cairo Church Attack Kills 25 at Center of Egyptian Christianity”

Christian charity’s largest country, India, no longer lets it transfer money. And now it’s run out. Compassion International is “weeks away from permanently withdrawing” from India, according to its testimony this week to a Congressional committee. “What we’re experiencing is an unprecedented, highly coordinated, deliberate and systematic attack intended to drive us out,” the ChristianContinue reading “Compassion: 145,000 Children Could Lose Sponsorship by Christmas”

If we are pro-life, we are anti-assisted suicide. A study by Lifeway Research recently revealed a disconcerting belief among Christians generally, and Evangelicals in particular. In the survey, 67% of Americans agree with the statement, “When a person is facing a painful terminal disease, it is morally acceptable to ask for a physician’s aid inContinue reading “Recent Research on End-of-Life Issues Reveal Holes in Our Theology”

His contribution to theology: nothing new. And that’s what made him famous. The “orthodox, ecumenical evangelical” Thomas C. Oden—a Methodist whose deep commitment to classical Christianity defined his life’s work—died Thursday at age 85. Oden’s vast body of theological writings includes his Systematic Theology anthology, four volumes on John Wesley, dozens of Bible commentaries, andContinue reading “Died: Thomas Oden, Methodist Theologian Who Found Classical Christianity”