Henri Nouwen Defines Christmas

Songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying yes to something beyond ...

Evil Isn't God's Fault

A certain preacher and an atheistic barber were walking through city slums.

The barber said, "This is why I can't believe in your God of love. If he was ...

Safe to Get Saved?

Conversion is hardly safe. After all, it requires approaching the King of the Universe, face to face. In his book The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis draws an ...

Jesus Knows Our Suffering

My wife leads a weekly "Christian circle" at a nursing home. An Alzheimer's patient named Betsy faithfully attends, led there by a staff ...

John Lennon and Jesus

Two books on John Lennon claim the ex-Beatle experienced a brief period as a born-again Christian during the 1970s. While living the life of a virtual ...

Glad to Be Chosen

Entertainer Garrison Keilor recalls the childhood pain of being chosen last for the baseball teams.

The captains are down to their last grudging choices: ...

Good Works Inadequate

When a pastor named Michael was still in seminary, he took a required course in "clinical pastoral education." Each seminarian was assigned ...

McCain Suffers as POW

MSNBC.com reports on John McCain’s recent return to where he was imprisoned as a POW in Vietnam:

During his captivity, McCain twice tried to hang ...

Jesus' Unanswered Prayer

When Jesus prayed to the one who could save him from death, he did not get that salvation; he got instead the salvation of the world.

Jesus Chose the Cross

Tom Allen, a former Army Ranger, tells this story:

I finally saw Saving Private Ryan about two weeks ago. I was extremely proud until the last minute of ...