Mid-City Christian

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Saints are people, too

Misremembering 1968
Religion & Politics: The events of 1968 as they relate to race and politics still live on in American public memory and policies, in ways that we continue to fail to understand.

Saints are people, too
Bearings: An interview with Karen Wright Marsh about her book, "Vintage Sinners and Saints: 25 Christians who Transformed my Faith."

East-side church rebuilding homes and lives in forgotten neighborhood
Indianapolis Star: Behind Eastern Star Church on Indy's east side, a rebirth is changing the landscape of Priscilla Avenue.

Alan Jacobs: a Christian intellectual for the internet age
America: Alan Jacobs is a Christian intellectual who has dedicated most of his career to bridging gaps not only between Christians and non-Christians but also between disciplines and audiences.

How Yo-Yo Ma became God
Religion News Service: It takes real artistry not only to know when to do -- but when not to do, as well.

Dictatorship the underlying problem in Nicaragua

· New Cardinal Newman Guide helps families navigate college search

The Cardinal Newman Society on Monday released its annual guide to help young Catholics make an informed choice as they navigate their search for colleges.

· Michigan diocese brings in retired judge for investigation, recommits to cooperation

· In Bavaria, government buildings will display a cross over their entrance

· After Alfie Evans breathes on his own, judge again strikes down transfer to Rome

· Dictatorship the underlying problem in Nicaragua riots, priest says

· In Toronto, cardinal urges prayers for victims of van attack

· Abuse survivor: Forgiveness, positive outlook key to healing

· Daily Readings

· Saint of the Day

Bishop McElroy: focus on ‘deep-level conscience formation’

“Acting on behalf of the trial lawyers”: California bishops oppose bill that would re-open sexual abuse claims
Bishop McElroy: Catholics should focus on ‘deep-level conscience formation’: San Diego bishop gave second Cardinal Bernardin Common Cause Lecture at Loyola University in Chicago last week, favors "affective and inspiring" over "cognitive and exhortational"
An early morning save at the abortion center:"You're keeping your baby, right?"

Sin as an Offense Against the Body

The Church and Islam: Dangerous Illusions

William Kilpatrick

When I first began writing about the Church and Islam, I devoted a lot of space to describing ways that Church leaders could resist the spread of Islam. It seemed only a matter of time until they would wake up to the need to resist. As it turned out, however, that assessment was overly optimistic. […]

Fr. Tim McCauley

“Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the impure person sins against the body itself.” More than any other type of sin, St. Paul is suggesting that impurity is a sin against ourselves. A deep healing of such sins cannot be limited to a correction of external behavior, but must […]

the gospel message—true for all peoples, all places, and all times.

Evangelism

One-on-One with Sam Chan on Evangelism in a Skeptical World

The essence of evangelism is the gospel message—true for all peoples, all places, and all times.

Ed Stetzer

Sam Chan, a practicing medical doctor and a public evangelist with City Bible Forum in Sydney, Australia, recently wrote Evangelism in a Skeptical World: How to Make the Unbelievable News about Jesus More Believable. Below, I talk with him about his new resource.

Ed: Why a book on evangelism?

Sam: Deep ...

Interview

Rosaria Butterfield: Christian Hospitality Isn’t ‘Southern Hospitality’

It has nothing to do with entertainment—and everything to do with addressing the crisis of unbelief.

Interview by Lindsey Carlson

Before Rosaria Butterfield became a popular Christian author, she was a tenured professor at Syracuse University, a lesbian feminist fighting to advance the cause of LGBTQ equality, and an unlikely convert. In 1999, her life intersected with the gospel of Jesus Christ through a friend’s radically ordinary hospitality. From hating Christians to becoming one, the transformation took place slowly and outside a church pew when the church came to her. In Butterfield’s newest book The Gospel ...

The seven types of atheist

CAIR blames Trump for jump in attacks on U.S. Muslims
The Associated Press
New Jersey ruling could reignite battle over church-state separation
The New York Times *
John Bolton presided over anti-Muslim think tank
NBC News
Willow Creek responds to new allegations against former pastor Hybels
Religion News Service
Indiana pizzeria that backed RFRA and declined to cater same-sex weddings closes for good
The Indianapolis Star *
No reprimand for D.C. lawmaker who donated to event where Farrakhan denounced Jews, council chair says
The Washington Post *

International Headlines

A pope given to apologies has nothing for indigenous Canada
The New York Times *
Sunni and Shia struggle with Iraq’s reconciliation process
Financial Times *
Facebook removes more ISIS content by actively looking for it
Bloomberg *
Meet the man who goes inside the minds of ISIS
BuzzFeed
Indonesia child marriage sparks controversy
BBC news
Alfie Evans could be flown to Rome if latest appeal succeeds
The Guardian
UAE to fund $50.4 million project to rebuild Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque
Reuters
Israeli minister vows to help Ethiopian Jews move to Israel
The Associated Press
Anti-Semitic Wagner letter to be sold in Jerusalem
BBC News
Conductor returns German music award in anti-Semitism row
BBC News

Analysis & Commentary

The seven types of atheist
Vice
He forced the Vatican to investigate sex abuse. Now he’s meeting with Pope Francis
The New York Times *
Is it anti-Semitic for President Trump to call Chuck Todd ‘sleepy eyes’?
The Washington Post *
West’s bombing of Syria meets some approval from Muslims
The Economist *
Was Abraham a murderer?
The Daily Beast

* Some websites may require a paid subscription

Second priest murdered in Mexico in less than a week

· New York assisted suicide bill draws fire from disability rights group

Disability rights activists are speaking out in opposition to a proposal in New York that would legalize physician assisted suicide.

· Pope's abuse prevention commission prioritizes survivors, education

· Second priest murdered in Mexico in less than a week

· Incoming pro-life chair to keynote National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

· Nigerian priest liberated after four days in captivity

· Italy grants Alfie Evans citizenship in hopes of transfer to Rome

· Francis shares a sweet treat with Rome's poor for feast of St. George

· Daily Readings

· Saint of the Day

The clergy are as all right as anyone else is.

Your pastor isn't as unhealthy as you might think
The Christian Century: The clergy are all right -- at least, as all right as anyone else is.

What Comey learned from theologian Reinhold Niebuhr about ethical leadership
The Conversation: Here are three lessons that former FBI Director James Comey, took from the 20th-century American Christian philosopher, Reinhold Niebuhr.

Tribalism outside the church. And in.
Christianity Today: Even members of the family of God are finding themselves feeling divided and disenchanted with one another over issues that, quite frankly, are non-essential, Ed Stetzer says.

Church of The Donald
Politico: As Christian networks have become more comfortable with politics, the Trump administration has turned them into a new pipeline for its message.

New Jersey ruling could reignite battle over church-state separation
The New York Times: A unanimous decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court could reverberate beyond New Jersey and reignite a national debate over the separation of church and state.

Beware of False (Political) Prophets

Deacon James H. Toner

In Acts 5, we read that Peter and the Apostles have been brought before the Sanhedrin, whose high priest chastises them for preaching in the name of Jesus, which they had been forbidden to do. Peter and the other Apostles respond that “We must obey God, not men” (v. 29). The Sanhedrin, furious, want to […]

Anthony Esolen

Conscience is one of the ecclesiastical words of the day. It is the king if not the ace of trumps, to be slapped on the table to take the trick and surprise the conventional and inattentive opponent. I wonder whether people who believe in the power of that card have considered how versatile man’s reason […]