Church Central to Town

In the opening chapters of his autobiographical classic The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton offers a unique look at the church's place in society. ...

Malcolm Muggeridge on Self-denial

I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am ...

Teenager Tries to Call the President

Access to the most powerful leader in the world—the President of the United States of America—is granted only to the few who have successfully ...

The (Not So) Terrible Year

I'm sitting in yet another hospital waiting room.

Ever since my husband, Barry, first underwent open heart and quadruple bypass surgery 15 months ago, ...

Bach's Cantatas: "The Fifth Gospel"

Yuko Maruyama, a Japanese organist working in Minneapolis, was once a devout Buddhist. Now, thanks to the music of J. S. Bach, she is a Christian. "Bach ...

Finding Comfort in the Worshiping Community

I got the news that I was sick on the afternoon of my 39th birthday. It took a bit of time, travel, and a series of wretched tests to get the specific ...

Augustine on the Purpose of the Incarnation

God became a man for this purpose: since you, a human being, could not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God through a man. ...

Experiencing Emmanuel in Prison

Roy Borges writes in Today's Christian:

Locked behind the razor-wire fences of a Florida prison is no place to spend a holiday. I'd spent 15 Christmases ...

The Hunger Christ Blesses

It is the desire for God which is the most fundamental appetite of all, and it is an appetite we can never eliminate. We may seek to disown it, but it ...

Seeing Jesus in the Dark

When I was a student at Harvard Divinity School, I learned preaching from Dr. Gardner Taylor, a pastor in New York City. I'll never forget those lectures. ...