Following Jesus From Israel to Rural Alabama

The Day After Thunder It was truly a day beyond words in April of this year when record tornadoes tore through Alabama.  I put it on my facebook page this way: “It is the morning after a wall of thunder ripped across our lovely state.  Time to roll up our sleeves and see what we can do to help.” A lot of death and injury greeted us when we emerged–damaged homes, businesses gone—and we found the task of cleaning up absolutely daunting.  One family in my church found themselves in a neighborhood of felled trees, including a big one right … Continue reading Following Jesus From Israel to Rural Alabama

War of the Worldviews?

Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar, wrote an opinion piece for CNN in the aftermath of the horrendous mass murder in Norway by suspect Anders Breivik.  Breivik set off a bomb and then, disguised as a policeman, infiltrated a youth camp where leadership and politics are taught and opened fire, at this point claiming at least 76 deaths. Breivik is white, Christian, and released a bizarre 1500 page manifesto in which he advocated a revolution in which the cultural dominance of Christianity might prevail over what he saw as an “Islamic-Marxist” alliance.  He wanted to speak on television in … Continue reading War of the Worldviews?