POST PUBLISHED INJune, 2009
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  • Ensign and Sanford: Sex, Power and Public Failure (And how you can protect yourself!)

    June 26th, 200902:45 PM ET
    By Poppy Smith
    Governor Mark Sanford and Senator John Ensign recently joined a sad list of public figures who have failed morally. I only have to mention former President Bill Clinton, former Gov. Elliot Spitzer, various mayors, police chiefs, a former CEO of Boeing, military recruiters, senior classmen at the Air Force Academy, prison guards, pastors, counselo...

  • A Fathers' Day Message from World War II

    June 21st, 200901:53 PM ET
    By Larkin Spivey
    Jerry Oncken's father joined the Army in 1944, a few months after she was born. After basic training he was sent to the war zone in Italy where he served for two years. Jerry had memories of getting together with other service families and playing with the other children. She also remembered her mother's letters that she always sealed with a...

  • Ant Talk on a Warm Summer Evening

    June 20th, 200902:23 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    An old allegory came home with added force one summer evening.  My daughter Shawna, her little brother Jonathan, and two little friends of theirs were strolling with me through the neighborhoods surrounding our home outside downtown Portland, Oregon.             The kids--as kids will do-...

  • Generous

    June 19th, 200912:34 PM ET
    By Kimberlee Conway Ireton
    The theme that unites the lectionary passages for June 28 is generosity. The word comes from the Latin generosus, which means "noble, magnanimous." And that word ‘magnanimous' comes from the Latin words magnus (great) and animus (soul): a large soul, one that overflows into the lives of others, particularly the lives of rivals or the less for...

  • The Problem with "Bonnie" and Me

    June 18th, 200911:32 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    I've recently learned how to use my new GPS unit. But it will never make me a saint. When I started working with my GPS unit, I tried all of the computerized voices and arbitrarily selected "Bonnie." I checked off several other preferences, keyed in our home address, and loaded several addresses I knew I'd need in coming days. But using a GPS...

  • Humor and Storytelling Can Point Others to God

    June 18th, 200912:08 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    I remember when one of my older kids hit 18 and went off to university. Their vocabulary stretched by a word or two. I winced, but I didn't offer a rebuke. Instead, I cheated and simply prayed. The Holy Spirit convicted them a while later, and even later during a visit they told me about it. My decision not to say such words had become their own pe...

  • Anointed

    June 13th, 200911:30 PM ET
    By Kimberlee Conway Ireton
    One of the many things I love about the reading the lectionary (a group of Bible readings consisting of a passage from the Old Testament, a psalm, an epistle excerpt, and a Gospel reading) is the way it juxtaposes familiar texts and makes me think about them in new ways. The readings for this Sunday (June 14) begin with Samuel's anointing of David...

  • Eternity: Slow Train Comin' (Part 5)

    June 11th, 200912:58 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    This week I've discussed how the evangelical church is once again beginning to understand its place within the broader Church, within the much larger family of God, and within the much, much larger kingdom of God. God's kingdom. God's family. God's Church. They're not the same, but how are they different? The fact is, God not only can use anyone...

  • Eternity: Slow Train Comin' (Part 4)

    June 10th, 200912:02 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    A few days ago I commented about how the evangelical church is once again beginning to understand its place within the broader Church, within the much larger family of God, and within the much, much larger kingdom of God. God's kingdom. God's family. God's Church. They're not the same, but how are they different? Jesus Christ is the head of th...

  • Real Love: A Paraphase of 1 Corinthians 13

    June 09th, 200910:42 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    If I talk a lot about God and the Bible and the Church, but I fail to ask about your needs and then help you, I'm simply making a lot of empty religious noise. If I graduate from theological seminary and know all the answers to questions you'll never even think of asking, and if I have all the degrees to prove it...and if I say I believe in God wi...

  • Eternity: Slow Train Comin' (Part 3)

    June 09th, 200910:31 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    A few days ago I commented about how the evangelical church is once again beginning to understand its place within the broader Church, within the much larger family of God, and within the much, much larger kingdom of God. God's kingdom. God's family. God's Church. They're not the same, but how are they different? God's family stretches from Adam...

  • Eternity: Slow Train Comin' (Part 2)

    June 08th, 200912:31 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    Yesterday I commented about how the evangelical church is once again beginning to understand its place within the broader Church, within the much larger family of God, and within the much, much larger kingdom of God. God's kingdom. God's family. God's Church. They're not the same, but how are they different? The first and smallest sphere in our ...

  • Mike Paolicelli's incredible story

    June 07th, 200905:34 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    My friend Mike Paolicelli gave me permission to share his incredible story. He writes: I wanted to tell you about something incredible that happened Monday, June 1, 2009, while I was in for my chemotherapy. I know you probably read lots of "stories" and wonder if they are true. This one is true, and I happened to be in the thick of it. I thin...

  • Eternity: Slow Train Comin' (Part 1)

    June 07th, 200904:45 PM ET
    By David Sanford
    It's not the kind of phone call you get every day. I had the privilege of doing an interview with Alexandra Alter with the Wall Street Journal. Alexandra called me to ask for feature story ideas. I asked her what kind of story ideas. She said she was looking for ideas for feature stories at the intersection of Christian faith and other spheres of l...

  • Seeking First God's Kingdom: A Faith That Declutters

    June 04th, 200902:30 PM ET
    By Ed Cyzewski
    It's never all that comfortable to live by faith, putting service of God's Kingdom ahead of accumulating wealth. I'm not sure how well we're doing at it, but we're giving it a go. I've been asking the Lord lately about what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God. One phrase that helps me get my little brain around such a huge idea is: "Everythi...

  • D-Day Prayer

    June 03rd, 200905:39 PM ET
    By Larkin Spivey
    During the evening of 6 June 1944, as American, British, and Canadian troops were fighting to establish a beachhead on the coast of Normandy, President Franklin Roosevelt went on the radio to address the nation, saying, "In this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer." His appeal to God at this pivotal moment in World War II reflected the co...
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Jesus talked about no faith, little faith, faith, growing faith, more faith, much faith, which kind do you have right now?