November 24th, 2009
Some in my faith community can get a little testy when Charles Darwin’s name comes up. So when Carl Safina, my friend the atheist and ocean conservationist, told me that Jesus and Darwin were his two heroes, I decided it was time to read Darwin’s Origin of Species for myself. After all, I’ve often challenged those who have any prickly opinions about Christianity to temper said opinions by reading the gospels. Much can be learned by going to the source documents.
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Tags: carl safina, charles darwin, evolution, gospels, intelligent design, Jesus, Origin of Species, special creation
Posted in jesus brand spirituality | 21 Comments »
February 26th, 2009
Advice to young pastors: to be a pastor in the context of the evangelical landscape is a privilege. By all measures evangelical Christianity is the most vibrant form of faith in the United States. Evangelical Christians volunteer more, give more money to their churches and give more to non-church charities than any other group. Nothing says “I love you” like time and cash. Evangelicals get things done, so you could do worse than to be a pastor in an evangelical setting. But there’s also a cross to bear and your being truly evangelical requires that you bear it. You must be willing to face and confront religious hostility in the camp.
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Tags: charles darwin, culture war, evangelical, evolution, Katharine Jefferts Schori, Origin of Species, porcupines, religious hostility, seminary
Posted in Uncategorized, advice to young pastors | 70 Comments »