The Covenants Initiative

Interesting initiative from John Andrew Morrow, based on texts of Muhammad calling on Muslims to protect and defend Christians. He’s written a new book, The Covenants  of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World.

95 Theses for Today

95 Theses for today: challenging evangelical “relevance,” “excess,” and “purpose.” http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/a-new-95-theses-challenging-the-excesses-of-american-evangelicalism.html

Ghosts

Mark Shea believes in ghosts. So does Peter Kreeft. An occult author praised by Hans Urs von Balthasar believes in them. A lot of Catholic authors through the ages cite them as proof of purgatory. But the Bible says “the dead know not anything” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10). For more on the Biblical truth of ghosts,…

On the Church’s Mission

Before Jesus ascended, he spoke to the gathered disciples (Matthew 28:18-20): “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I…

Spiritual Gifts

In John’s gospel, after the last supper, Jesus takes his disciples for a walk, and he teaches them about things that are going to come. He’s going to leave them, he says. He will return, he promises. But when I’m gone, you won’t be alone.  John 14:16-18. “And I will pray the Father, and He…

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Sermon at FUSION service, Camp Buehring, Kuwait, 27 OCT 2013. The song we sang at the beginning was “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” by Martin Luther. He wrote it about the year 1527, and it became the anthem of the Protestant Reformation. I have a long history with that song. I fell in love…

Hearts and Minds

Certain folks in the West (egged on by the Islamiphobia industry) say you never hear Muslim leaders condemning terrorism. That’s only because they get their news from FOX (or even CNN–the mainstream media outlets are equally guilty). Here’s a good example of the dialogue taking place in the Middle East: “The Battle for Hearts and…

Turkey Anastasis?

Turkey (under the guise of the Ottoman Empire) once dominated the Middle East. After WW1, it retreated. Now, it is showing renewed interest in Middle East affairs.  Kuwait and Turkey have announced new ties. Turkey is speaking out about the lack of world leadership in Syria (its neighbor). CNN speaks of a Turkish-Kurdish-Muslim Brotherhood axis, vs.…

UnMosqued

UnMosqued: Why Are Young Muslims Leaving American Mosques? Documentary by Ahmed Eid. He finds problems that a lot of immigrant churches also face: Most mosque leadership is above the age of 52 and is disconnected from the realities of what young people growing up in America really face, that there is an extremely high number…

On Mary

A friend linked to an article by an Orthodox Christian about Mary, making the traditional Orthodox and Catholic point that Christians can pray to Mary. These Christians believe Mary was raised to heaven, where she reigns as Queen. That we are part of the Body of Christ, and hence are connected to her (and all…

North American Martyrs

In the Catholic calendar, today is the feast of the North American Martyrs, St. Isaac Jogues and his companions, who were martyred by the Iroquois in the 17th century. I explored the sites of their ministry and martyrdom a number of times in the mid-1990s when I lived in the northeast, and wrote about a…

Robert W. Jenson

This afternoon I stumbled upon an article by David B. Hart, “The Lively God of Robert Jenson.” Jenson was one of my professors at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. In fact, when I was still a student at Loma Linda University, my professor, Paul Landa, knew I was interested in a Lutheran seminary and…

A Muslim Perspective on the Trinity

A friend sent me a link to a lecture given in 1996 by Abdal-Hakim Murad (aka Timothy Winter), “A Muslim Perspective on the Trinity.” Winter/Murad is a convert to Islam, and currently a lecturer at Cambridge. The article includes traditional Muslim objections to the Trinity, but also reveals 1) his indebtedness to liberal scholarship and 2)…

The American Media and Islam

The American media cannot be trusted to report accurately on Islam or Middle Eastern issues. Americans always say, “Muslims never condemn terrorism. I’ve never heard it. So they don’t.” The problem is they watch MSNBC and CBS and CNN and FOX — and none of these media tell you the truth about the Middle East.…

Jews and Muslims

Jacob Bender has been hired as executive director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations. The Forward reports that he “faces hostility” from the “Jewish establishment.” Bender recently came to my attention as the producer of a documentary, “Out of Cordoba:  Averroes and Maimonides in Their Time and Ours.”

Fear and Loathing in America

I was reflecting on the theme of fear and these literary, film, and musical examples popped into my mind almost simultaneously. 1. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “South Pacific,” includes this song, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”: You’ve got to be taught To hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught From year to year,…

Who Do You Say that I Am?

In Mark 8, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”  And they said that folks had a lot of different ideas. Some said he was John the Baptist, others said he was Elijah, or one of the prophets. But Jesus wanted more than a survey of public opinion. And so he…

The Military Chaplaincy in Crisis?

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court  overturned  the Defense of Marriage Act–a decision that redefines marriage. For those who hold to the traditional understanding of marriage, this has dire consequences. They argue that marriage is a union of male and female, and its purpose is for procreation and the nurturing of families. It is the…

Islamic Art

A few weeks ago I visited the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The thought that kept coming to me as I walked through the exhibits–this shows that Islam is indeed a religion of peace, because these ordinary objects that were crafted with such beauty and care give witness to a culture that values…

Dialogue with Muslims

I’ve been in Kuwait since the first of April, and will be here until the end of the year. I’ve had lots of opportunities for dialogues with Muslims. This isn’t the first time for me, of course. I had a Muslim roommate from Egypt in college. I’ve been involved in interfaith dialogue my entire ministry…