This story needs to be remembered. When Edwarda O’Bara was 16 years old, she slipped into a coma after a becoming sick from her diabetes medicine. Just before losing consciousness, Edwarda asked her mother not to leave her. And for nearly 40 years she never did. Edwarda’s mother and father cared for her. They read to her, played her music, made she was turned every two hours, bathed her, gave her insulin and provided nourishment through a feeding tube. Edwarda slipped into her coma in 1970. Her father and mother took care of her until 1976 when her father died. Her mother cared for her until 2008 when she died.…
-
-
McCain Says GOP Should Leave Abortion Issue Alone
-
Grieving with Hope at Christmas
I love Steven Curtis Chapman’s music. His 1995 Christmas album is a staple at our house every year. Many of these songs are more than nostalgia to me. They are worship. Just this past Sunday as I was driving to church, my eyes were welling-up once again as I sang for the first time this year “Our God Is with Us”. I really love this music. Now, nearly 20 years later Chapman has released a new Christmas album titled “Joy”. Chapman has lived a lifetime since that first Christmas album, and it shows in the new one. One song in particular is addressed to those who are grieving at Christmastime.…
-
SCOTUS To Rule on Gay Marriage by June?
The Los Angeles Times reports that we should find out this week whether or not the Supreme Court will rule on gay marriage. Earlier this year, a lower court overturned “Proposition 8,” California’s ban on gay marriage. Traditional marriage supporters have appealed that decision, and the Supreme Court must decide whether or not to hear their appeal.
-
Another Postscript on Wright’s Remarks
Doug Wilson adds a postscript to his earlier remarks about N. T. Wright’s misinterpretation of key biblical texts concerning gender roles. In particular, Wilson turns his guns on Wright’s translation of 1 Timothy 2:12, and in light of this I would add a postscript to my earlier remarks as well. According to a 2004 conference address, Wright offers this translation: I’m not saying that women should teach men, or try to dictate to them; they should be left undisturbed (1 Tim. 2:12). My main point of contention here is that Wright employs an English idiom that has no basis in the Greek text. The idiom is the one that starts…
-
Tom Wright on Anglican Vote Rejecting Female Bishops
Tom Wright has an op-ed in The Times of London today commenting on the Anglican decision not to ordain women as bishops. Wright’s article is a response in large part to Prime Minister David Cameron’s admonition to the church to “get with the program.” Wright thinks Cameron oversteps his bounds in telling the church what it ought to do. Perhaps I’m not the only one who would note the irony of an Anglican church leader complaining about the state chiming-in on church matters. But that is not what I am mainly concerned about here.
-
When Jesus hates thanksgiving…
The Christian’s duty to give thanks is pretty clear in scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is one aspect of God’s will that is not secret or hidden. It’s not something that we have to pray about. We already know what it is. Giving thanks in every circumstance is the normative ethic for all Christians. Nevertheless, there is at least one place in scripture in which Jesus warned against giving thanks. From Luke 18:9-14:
-
Report Says Abortions Down 5% Nationwide
The Associated Press reports that the number of abortions is down 5% nationwide. This good news is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there are still about 1 million abortions performed every year in the United States. We can be thankful for the small decrease in the number of abortions, but make no mistake. An incalculable human slaughter continues. The report is quick to credit birth control use as a primary reason for the decrease in abortions, not the passage of recent laws restricting abortions. There’s no statistical evidence in the report to support this claim. Nevertheless, the author clearly suggests that laws restricting abortion are ineffective. This is a…
-
Who Is Hobby Lobby?
We all heard the news earlier this week about the death of religious freedom at Hobby Lobby. Even though the public is becoming aware that the owners David and Barbara Green are Christians, Americans still need to know more about these good people and what they stand for. To this end, Ben Domenech writes:
-
Conversation with Sarah Posner
Sarah Posner from Religion Dispatches was very kind to invite me on to her bloggingheads program yesterday (see below). We talked for about 30 minutes about evangelical political engagement in the aftermath of the presidential election. For those of you who watch the video, that’s not the shekinah beaming off my face. I just set myself up in bad lighting in my basement. Nevertheless, I do look like a luminous being, although I am no Jedi.