Christian Thought

What is the difference between “speaking out” and merely complaining? (from Mel Lawrenz’s sermon, “Called to Speak Out” – online Monday evening, Sept. 30). • Am I just venting feelings?

This weekend Pastor Mel Lawrenz continues the sermon series “Called – Reimagining Our Place in God’s Plan” at Elmbrook Church, looking at what it means to be called to a distinctive way of life. In all of the uncertainties of our lives, God remains the one called “I AM.” When we lack confidence (like Moses),

The Brook Network is co-sponsoring a special author event featuring Matthew Jacoby whose new book Deeper Places: Experiencing God in the Psalms, has just been released by Baker Books. Dr. Matthew Jacoby is the teaching pastor

Debates about the philosophy and methodology of church ministry abound. In the middle of it all sometimes one fundamental reality gets forgotten: the church is the one institution in society positioned at the intersection of human need and divine resources. This is an enormous privilege and a sober responsibility of every church. “Engagement” is bringing

At the intersection of past and future, we have one of the greatest opportunities to influence the common good. Unthinkingly, we sometimes idealize the new and devalue the old. The truth is, the only way for tomorrow to have integrity is for the best of yesterday to pass through the gateway of today.

The American revolutionary John Adams sometimes seems eclipsed by his brilliant contemporary Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s face is carved in a sixty-foot section of granite on Mt. Rushmore, after all, not Adam’s. But how remarkable was the character of Adams, a man for whom being second president of the United States was just one more vocation

The early morning light filtered through the small windows of the scriptorium—the manuscript copying room—where a scribe was hunched over a table on which lay the parchment he was inscribing. His back ached from curling his body day after day over the tilted table, sitting on a backless stool, holding his writing arm out across

One large truth keeps dropping in front of my face ever since the death of philosopher and author Dallas Willard last week. I’ve read numerous tributes by friends and associates of Willard’s and they keep bringing up this one large truth. I had just one conversation with Dallas Willard years ago, but it confirmed to

Psalm 25 says “they will be put to share who are treacherous without excuse.” In the aftermath of the terrorist bombing in Boston, we may pray other words from the same psalm: “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.”

Announcing… a new initiative this year, which we are calling “In Search of Dignity.” I’d like to tell you about a new initiative this year, which we are calling “In Search of Dignity.” I have come to believe that dignity, and its opposite, indignity, sum up the heights and the depths of what our lives

It was Christmas Eve in Wauwatosa. In the early hours of the morning. Most of the citizens were asleep in their beds, warm, comfortable, safe. The Wauwatosa Police Department was on the job patrolling and protecting. A solitary squad car made its way on quiet streets past the Christmas lights and the Santa signs, a lone officer at the wheel. Jennifer Sebena, 30 years of age, two years on the force had wanted to be a cop for as long as she could remember and when she set her mind to something she pursued it with diligence. No surprise she graduated top of her class at the academy. She was on patrol.