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Friday Favorites: Chik-fil-A Edition

All week I’ve been thanking my lucky stars (and, erm, God) that I don’t live within 150 miles of the now-infamous poultry sandwich establishment, and that most of my far-North friends have no innate loyalty to the Southern chicken chain. For me, the ugly, aggravating, and to my mind incredibly stupid debate has played out […]

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“She Opens Her Mouth With Wisdom”–Or Not. Lessons for the Church From the Proverbs 31 Woman

When I was a baby, my Auntie Lynn gave me a beautiful plaque inscribed with my name, its meaning, and a Bible verse, plucked from Proverbs 31: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.” It was the first Bible verse I memorized, the words sinking deep into […]

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Chicken Sandwiches, Christian Conquistadors, and Other Internet E.coli

After the flooding that hit my hometown, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued warnings to avoid several beaches. The sewer systems had been compromised, and high levels of E.coli bacteria were found in the water. In other words: Stay out of the water, or you’ll find yourself swimming in–well–you get the idea. That’s kind of […]

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Heresy, Hermeneutics, and Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing: Part 1

I’ve been thinking about controversy among Christians a lot lately. A writer I follow on Facebook is accused of promoting a “dangerous” liberal theology. Ironically, his theology isn’t liberal at all, just rooted in a historical Christian tradition the accuser wasn’t familiar with. Which must make it “liberal,” right?   A Reformed book reviewer labels […]

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Controversy, Bible Bullets, and Godly Conversation (repost)

Quick: what’s your opinion on gender roles? The debt ceiling? Gay marriage? Politics? War? Predestination? Before you blurt it out–stop. Just stop. Think for a moment about the words that are about to leave your mouth. Are they kind? Thoughtful? Honoring to God? Think about the person who is asking you the question; their background, […]

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Toxic Christianity: When Our Public Face Poisons Faith

If there’s one thing that leaves me completely aghast, it’s Christians hurting one another and using religion to justify their behavior, or citing it as the reason that they didn’t step in to defend the hurting, vulnerable party. It’s the child who is abused on the mission field or in the church, but no one […]

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Shove a Candy Cane in Your Mouth, and Shut It! Taming the Tongue, XMas Style

‘Tis the season for contentious status updates. Every year around this time, faithful followers of the Prince of Peace start picking fights with people who celebrate the “holidays,” and double-dog-daring the 3% of their Facebook followers who aren’t too chicken to do the same. I confess–the picture in this post was my temptation, a snarky […]

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Why You Should Quit Talking About Your “Beautiful Wife”

Eugene Cho, pastor, social entrepreneur, blogger, and fellow Covenanter (just had to get that in there!), posted this video on his blog yesterday. It’s over eight minutes long, but seriously? Watch the whole thing. Even if it turns your stomach a bit. Miss Representation 8 min. Trailer 8/23/11 from Miss Representation on Vimeo. What does it […]

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Why Christians Lie

This morning, as I was continuing my purge of my tiny office, I came across a dusty magazine that someone had passed on to me a couple years back. I was about to toss it in the trash can, when I noticed a prominent Christian leader’s name on the cover, beneath a headline that peaked […]

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Controversy, Bible Bullets, and Godly Conversations

Quick: what’s your opinion on gender roles? The debt ceiling? Gay marriage? Michelle Bachmann? War? Predestination? Before you blurt it out–stop. Just stop. Think for a moment about the words that are about to leave your mouth. Are they kind? Thoughtful? Honoring to God? Think about the person who is asking you the question; their […]

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Watch Your Mouth!

I’m angry. And I’m going to spout off. But I’m going to do it gently, with humility, I hope.  The day began normally. I Googled a well-respected Christian author and scholar I was recently introduced to, only to find a blog by two puffed-up pastors denouncing her “sotto voice feminism” (puh-leese) and moaning about the fact […]

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A Broken Trust, and the reason I write.

“A Broken Trust,” an article I wrote about domestic violence in the church, is being featured in the April 2011 issue of The Covenant Companion. You can read it online here: http://www.covchurch.org/resources/files/2010/12/4.2011.A-Broken-Trust.pdf Writing this article was a little bit like giving birth–long, hard, and emotionally (and even physically!) draining. But the end result was so, so […]

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It’s a scandal, it’s an outrage…

Wow, it’s been a LOOOONG time since I blogged! But today I felt compelled to blog about a common, debilitating condition among Christians (and non-Christians, too): outrage. Now, outrage is not always a bad thing. There are plenty of things in this world to be outraged about, and a healthy dose of righteous indignation is […]

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