At age 17 my friend Marian decided to stop believing in God. There had been a horrific school bus accident in her town. Kids were killed. She didn’t want a God who would let that happen. And she still feels that way fifty years later. You’ve heard stories… Read More
It’s a rare blessing when a writer transforms your thinking on a certain subject. With her book Teach Us to Want (IVP, 2015), Jen Pollock Michel has done just that. In our continuing efforts to understand, promote, and enhance Bible engagement, we’ve come to appreciate this writer’s emphasis… Read More
¡Hola! ¡Hola! That’s a greeting I hear in my congregation every Sunday. Maybe you’re hearing it too. Hispanics (or Latinos) now make up 17 percent of the U.S. population, and that number is expected to rise dramatically in the next generation. Of course those statistics represent actual people—people you may… Read More
Barak got a bad rap. We’re talking about the Israelite general sent into battle by Deborah, the only female judge in the book of Judges. Barak won a great battle against long odds, but most of us remember him as a coward. I believe that’s based on a serious misunderstanding… Read More
Stop scolding people! Oops. You see how hard it is to avoid giving negative feedback? Still, it’s our job, isn’t it? Doesn’t effective ministry require that we correct our people when necessary? We call people to repentance, to holy living, to right doctrine. Biblical correction Didn’t Jesus challenge the Pharisees,… Read More
The transformation started nearly 500 years ago, when we changed the way the Bible looks. Beginning with the Geneva Bible in the 1550s our sacred writings were redesigned to make them easier to reference. The chapter numbering system we know had been introduced 300 years earlier, but it was… Read More
by Bruce Main I was visiting the country of Malawi, one of the poorest in Africa. After flying for 24 hours, with only a brief stop in Addis Ababa, I needed a hot shower, a bowl of soup, and anything that looked like a bed. But my driver, a… Read More
“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14 KJV). This prophetic vision inspired the founders of American Bible Society 200 years ago, and it still drives us today. But it… Read More
A new Star Wars movie came out. Maybe you heard about it. Amid all the hoopla, I’ve been marveling at how this story has captivated our culture for the past few decades—and now it’s repackaged for a new generation. Those of us who grapple with “the Greatest Story… Read More
I wonder what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say to us on Monday if he were still alive. Have we furthered his vision? What call to action would he ask us to take? Dr. King saw racial reconciliation as intrinsically connected with Scripture. In his… Read More
