Religion:

Church Growth, August 13, 2005
Mark Tapscott wonders if the mainstream media will take notice of an interesting stat in the recent construction data: of all forms of non-residential construction, church construction is growing the fastest....

Well, that's Rather Ironic, August 13, 2005
The Tennessean reports today that "calls to cancel a political and religious rally originating from a Nashville church tomorrow evening have fallen on deaf ears." The group of folks criticizing Justice Sunday 2 and the fact that it is being organized by Christians and held at a church includes: Bishop Joseph Walker, senior pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, one of the largest Midstate congregations, and the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United...

This May Offend You, June 23, 2005
A case of Koran "desecration" . The Tennessean reports:"It's in the heart of every Muslim. We respect and we love (the Koran) more than our families," said Ab-dishakur Ibrahim, imam of the Al-Farooq mosque. "I don't know why anyone would do this. I can't comprehend it."Well, there's your problem right there. You love a book - paper with ink on it - more than you love your families. Perhaps that helps explain the routine oppression...

Cross Purposes, June 20, 2005
Glen Dean wonders why a couple of local liberal bloggers decided to insult Christians on their blogs.The Southern Baptist Convention is this weekend. As expected, liberal bloggers have commented about the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Sharon's blog has posted about the convention, and so has S-town Mike. I really don't understand why liberal Democrats think that insulting evangelical Christians is going to further the Democratic agenda. Also, since liberals are always teaching tolerance, why can't...

Sermon Illustrations Gone Awry, June 01, 2005

Kingdom of Heaven, May 16, 2005
I haven't seen the new flick Kingdom of Heaven and probably won't until I can get it from Netflix, but if you have seen it or are going to see it or just want to read a good historical treatment of the era in which it is set, check out Reid Monaghan's piece here....

Help Wanted, May 12, 2005
Tod Bolsinger has some good information on concrete ways you can help address the AIDS crisis in Africa. Look around at everything you have and realize how blessed you are before you reject his request. Bolsinger recently spent several days in Malawi. Here's one of his blog reports from the scene....

Pope Blogging, April 23, 2005
New Pope says he wants to continue Pope Classic's openness with the media. I think New Pope should do a blog....

Meet the New Pope, April 19, 2005
There was Pope Classic. Now there is New Pope. I'm not Catholic, nor do I believe the papal system has any basis in the Bible. But in watching the news coverage of the selection of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the next Pope I am frustrated and angered with the repeated questions about whether the new Pope Benedict XVI will move away from the doctrinal stances of his predecessor, will "moderate" his stances on various...

Revelations, April 14, 2005
A few days ago, I arrived home to find a FedEx package on my front porch. Inside, a DVD and a letter from a Los Angeles PR firm that began, "Dear Blogger..."...

A New Cult?, April 14, 2005
The hot topic on local talk radio lately has been a church called Remnant Fellowship, and whether it is trying to take over the government of the suburban city of Brentwood by importing members and temporarily housing them in Remnant members' homes, and registering them to vote. Remnant Fellowship is a creepy proto-cult, in my opinion - and not just because of this latest flap. Here are some links for more info: Brentwood election may...

A New Cult?, April 14, 2005
The hot topic on local talk radio lately has been a church called Remnant Fellowship, and whether it is trying to take over the government of the suburban city of Brentwood by importing members and temporarily housing them in Remnant members' homes, and registering them to vote. Remnant Fellowship is a creepy proto-cult, in my opinion - and not just because of this latest flap. Here are some links for more info: Brentwood election may...

What About the Pope?, April 05, 2005
You don't not have to accept papal authority or the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church's papal system - and I don't - in order to praise Pope John Paul II for his positive impact on world history and his consistency when it came to moral questions. In a world of post-modernism, where the secular press and politicians often wondered why Catholic doctrine on abortion, homosexuality and other issues wouldn't change with the times, John...

Missionary Blogging, March 31, 2005
Tod Bolsinger is blogging his nine-day mission trip to Malawi, where his church is establishing a ministry reaching out to a community devastated by AIDS. Each post also has a scripture, a thought for the day and a prayer. Follow his trip here....

Easter: It's Not About The Bunny, March 27, 2005
He is risen. He is risen indeed! He is risen. He is risen indeed! He is risen. He is risen indeed! He is risen. He is risen indeed! He is risen. He is risen indeed! He is risen. He is risen indeed!...

By His Wounds..., March 22, 2005
Tod Bolsinger says Holy Week is a good time to "remember the length to which God has gone to bring healing to our broken places."...

Thoughts on Palm Sunday in Iraq, March 21, 2005
Thunder 6 writes about faith and free will from the perspective of a Palm Sunday service in Iraq.I walked over to our chapel, a drab concrete building whose defining characteristic is an odd architectural feature that resembles a missile ready to puncture the sky, and entered its single room. As I took my seat I looked around and noticed that in addition to my Army brethren there were Marines, Bangladeshi contractors, Eastern European truck drivers,...

Palm Sunday, March 20, 2005
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!' When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, 'Who is this?' The crowds were...

At the Intersection of Faith and Work, March 14, 2005
Dennis Bakke, author, entrepreneur, business management paradigm-breaker, and modest billionaire philanthropist, will be speaking on Wednesday afternoon, and it will be a privilege to hear him and to meet him. Bakke has just published a new book, Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job, which chronicles the revolutionary no-management approach that built AES Corp. into a global energy giant. A billionaire who gives most of his money away, Bakke is well-known...

Mulling The Truth, March 14, 2005
From time to time I post links to a really good sermon that's available online. Usually it is a text transcript, but today's sermon is available in audio, video or even as an MP3 download for your iPod, courtesy of what may be the finest church website I have ever seen. The speaker is Stu Weber, pastor of Good Shepherd Community Church in Portland, Oregon, speaking at Fellowship Bible Church . Many churches sell tapes...

Help a Blogger Help The Kids in Moldova, February 28, 2005
Blake Wylie is still needing to raise some funds for a missionary trip to Moldova. You can donate via his Amazon or PayPal tip jars. I know Blake and am familiar with the excellent church where he is a member and which is organizing the trip. Help him go to Moldova this summer - even if you can chip in just $5....

More Passion, February 25, 2005
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is being re-released to theaters nationwide March 11, in advance of Good Friday and Easter, with six minutes of the most bloody and violent scenes edited out. Here's reaction from the Nashville religious community....

Missionary Blogging, February 17, 2005
Nashville blogger Blake Wylie is missionary blogging. He's also headed to Moldova in July on a mission trip, provided he can raise the necessary funds. If you tithe regularly, considering diverting a piece of it to Blake's trip. He needs to raise $1,750 over the next few months... Weblogs are a great way for missionaries to provide regular updates in almost real-time to their sponsoring churches and family and friends back home. Wylie is currently...

The Start of Something New, February 01, 2005
Today's Tennessean reports on what I believe is a huge loss for Nashville but a gain for the cause of Christ in this world: the resignation, after 27 years, of a local preacher to take a position leading a new graduate program in urban ministry at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I have been a member at the church where Dr. Rubel Shelly preaches since 1984, except for a brief three-year hiatus (1985-88) while...

Soul Music, January 27, 2005
Christianity Today's Books & Culture website has a review of Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog, "the first book of sermons inspired by what just might be the world's most influential rock 'n' roll band."Reminding, comforting, and challenging are recurring themes in Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog. Editors Raewynne J. Whiteley and Beth Maynard, both Episcopalian ministers, have produced the first book of sermons inspired by what just...

A Religious War?, January 21, 2005
Donald Sensing says President Bush's inaugural speech yesterday "draws the battle lines even more sharply" between us and our "medieval" enemy, radical Islam......

Show Time, January 19, 2005
Amanda Witt has a review of the new book from Christian blogger Tod Bolsinger, the excellent Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy By Living Out The Faith.Sometimes we understand what we ought to do; we just don't do it. In Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy by Living Out the Faith, Tod Bolsinger analyzes 2 Peter to help readers make the shift from knowing Christ's teachings to living them. As the title suggests, this is a serious...

Blog For God, January 14, 2005
Tod Bolsinger is urging his fellow Christian pastors and preachers to Blog, for Christ's sake. "My friends," says Bolsinger, "the blogosphere offers us opportunities to faithful put forth clear witness for Christ in large and influential numbers."...

Is "Americanism" Just Modern-Day Puritanism?, January 09, 2005
Joe Carter over at Evangelical Outpost, has started a blog symposium focusing on an article in the latest edition of Commentary that asserts that Americanism is the successor of Puritanism. Carter is offereing prizes for the top three submissions. The article, Americanism - and Its Enemies, is by David Gelernter. Commentary is a very good magazine that deserves wider exposure via the blogosphere. Two bits of advice for the people at Commentary: 1. Make your...

What He's Looking For, January 07, 2005
Tod Bolsinger, author of two excellent books about authentic christian living and the right way to do church, is wondering how to get U2's Bono to come to church more often....

Coming Soon, January 06, 2005
Today, I have registered a new domain name, ChristianPundit.com, along with the .net and .org versions, as the future home of a new blog. Hugh Hewitt has encouraged me to "turn it into a group blog for cross referencing of posts by Christian bloggers," which is along the lines of what I was considering. I'd like to see ChristianPundit.com evolve into the web's premier multi-contributor blog for punditry on social, political, cultural and broad theological...

The Coffeehouse Gospel, January 06, 2005
I'm currently running an ad for a book, The Coffeehouse Gospel: Sharing Your Faith Through Everyday Conversation, by Matthew Paul Turner, who is a speaker and author and former editor of CCM magazine, the nation's leading Christian entertainment publication. Turner also is a former music and entertainment editor of Crosswalk.com, the largest online Christian website in the world. The Coffeehouse Gospel is his second book. His first is The Christian Culture Survival Guide, and he...

This Sounds Like a Bad Idea, December 29, 2004
"This is Sharia law introduced as a tax loop-hole." - George Miller explains... and Michelle Malkin has much more on the same topic....

"Our God Is Practical", December 29, 2004
Amanda Witt's latest essay on Christianity, culture and God's practicality is a must-read....

The PC War, December 28, 2004
, a local Islamic community leader is offering free classes on Islam to dispel the notion that Islam is a religion of murdering terrorists.When Awadh Binhazim holds diversity training in the Nashville area, he asks his students what comes to mind when they hear the word Muslim. Many say "murderer," "terrorist" or "bad religion." To counter these beliefs, Binhazim and other leaders of the Islamic Center of Nashville will hold free weekly classes on Islam...

Christmas Contentment, December 27, 2004
How did you spend Christmas? Opening gifts and eating a feast in the comfort of a warm home with family or friends around? Ted Leichner, father of six and formerly a successful physician in the Nashville area, spent it in Iraq, by choice, and calls his deployment to Iraq "a gift from God." Hear the incredible story in this MP3 audio file - it starts at 32:35. [Windows Media video file here, Windows Media Audio...

Mary, Did You Know, December 25, 2004
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you deliver will soon deliver you. Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would calm...

The Meaning of Christmas, December 25, 2004
Most people think of Luke 2 or the other passages in the gospels describing the birth of Christ as "the Christmas story." But the meaning of Christmas is found in Philippians 2:3-11. [Windows Media video file]Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the...

A Place of Wonder, December 19, 2004
My cousin Jonathan Witt, who recently started a blog (along with his wife Amanda), has a column published in Thursday's Seattle Times on the recent admission by famed atheist philosopher Antony Flew that the theory of evolution has not addressed a critical question, leaving the door open for the existence of a creator. Excerpt follows, though you really ought to read the whole thing......

Myth or Truth 2, December 16, 2004
More discussion of the Virgin Birth here from Donald Sensing and also here from Tod Bolsinger...

Myth or Truth?, December 15, 2004
Tod Bolsinger defends the historicity of the virgin birth of Jesus. Read the whole thing. And don't miss the much-longer series of posts from Mark D. Roberts on the same topic - The Birth of Jesus: Hype or History?. Roberts' Advent picture calendar is pretty cool too. If there's a better preacher's blog out there than these, I haven't seen them. Meanwhile, Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost has written a provocative essay suggesting Christians stop...

Flew the Coop?, December 15, 2004
Has famous atheist philosopher Antony Flew really said scientific evidence suggests that life and the universe are the product of intelligent design? Jonathan Witt has the details. Excerpt......

Happy Hanukkah, December 13, 2004
Dave Kopel explains the deeper meaning of Hanukkah. Why do I support Israel? It isn't because I believe Israel must exist for Jesus to return, a common belief of evangelical Christians that I don't share. It is because they represent the ongoing struggle against tyranny....

MacBeth and Christ, December 10, 2004
Here's a Christmas column about Macbeth...

He Did., November 30, 2004
My favorite Christmas carol is "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing." Tod Bolsinger blogs today about the Christian belief that God became human. It's a belief that gets a lot of airplay in the last days before Christmas each year, Bolsinger notes:If you listen closely to many a Christmas carol playing everywhere from your car radio to the local Starbucks you’d think everyone believes it too. We sing with gusto and without thought, the words of...

Show Time, November 23, 2004
Back, but not much blogging 'til tomorrow. My wife had surgery this morning and is now home resting not-so-comfortably 'cept for the miracle of painkillers. I spent part of my day with taking care of the kids, and occupied the time while she was in surgery and post-op recovery reading the first four chapters of Tod Bolsinger's new book, Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy By Living Out The Faith. It's a very very very fine...

Just Arrived, November 19, 2004
Tod Bolsinger's new book, Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy By Living Out The Faith, just arrived thanks to the modern miracle of Amazon.com. Here is how Bolsinger describes the book:While pastors may or may not be the "experts" in Christian faith, the people in the pews are indeed experts in the challenge of living the Christian life. This book is my attempt as a pastor and theologian to communicate with real-life experts (like many of...

Behold the Power of Cheese, November 17, 2004
Behold the power of cheese. Limited blogging tonight as I plan on baking making mounds and mounds of muffins in hopes of finding one that looks like a woman's face, so I can auction it on eBay to people who think God has nothing better to do that make His Son's mother's face appear on a grilled cheese sandwich....

Bible Blogging, November 09, 2004
Some months ago I wrote that I was reading It Takes A Church to Raise a Christian, an excellent book by Tod Bolsinger that I would review once I completed it. The thing is, I misplaced the book with about 25 pages to go and, when I finally found it, I was extremely busy with work and other things. I do plan on finishing the book soon. I can give you my short review now:...

Stem Cell Seminar, October 18, 2004
The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture will be presenting a Q&A session on stem cell research on the evening of Oct. 20 at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. Stem cell research is a hot policy topic in this year's presidential campaign. This Q&A session is for you if you want to more fully understand the issue of stem cell research, the difference between "embryonic" and "adult" stem cells, and the ethics and policies...

This Just In, October 14, 2004
Two new books just arrived from Amazon: Hugh Hewitt's In, But Not Of, a guide to Christian ambition and the desire to influence the world, and George Friedman's America's Secret War, a look inside the hidden worldwide struggle between America and its enemies. Hewitt is a lawyer, author, radio talk show host, former adviser to Ronald Reagan, and blogger. Friedman, a nationally recognized expert on intel and geopolitcs, founded Stratfor, a private intelligence company. His...

On Gay Marriage, August 19, 2004
I think this is probably about right....

Jesus, Not Politics!, August 19, 2004
Blake Wylie has an answer to the question, Who would Jesus vote for? Says Wylie, "If the left wants to start talking about Jesus, then let's do that."...

The Ultimate Sacrifice, August 16, 2004
Donald Sensing preached about Michael Moore on Sunday. Well, not really. Sensing's sermon transcript is well worth reading, as he preached Sunday about sacrifice, asking what goal or cause you would be willing to sacrifice your children in the pursuit of....

Post-Protestant Christianity, August 09, 2004
The Tennessean carried a story Sunday about a national study showing a decline in the percentage of Americans who describe themselves, religiously, as "Protestant." Noting that Nashville is often referred to as the "Protestant Vatican" for the number of Christian denominations' various publishing and headquarters operations located in the city, along with the bulk of the Christian music industry, the story explores through local eyes whether the term "Protestant" means much any more....

Church and State, June 04, 2004
Blake Wylie has some thoughts about the "religion gap" in American politics....

Baseball Bible Bobbleheads, June 02, 2004
I really don't know what to say about this:The Nashville Sounds, who received national recognition and widespread positive response throughout Middle Tennessee last year by organizing the first Christian-based sales program in professional baseball, have added three unique collectible giveaways to their "Faith Night" series this summer. Biblical figures Moses, Noah, and Samson will all be featured as bobblehead giveaways on the team’s Faith Nights during the upcoming weeks... "The church groups are going crazy...

"The Pizza Church", May 27, 2004
Mark D. Roberts explains in the third part of his "Salt and Light" series of blog posts......

Sunday Sermons, May 24, 2004
Donald Sensing, the blogging pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tenn., points out the yesterday was Ascension Sunday, the seventh Sunday of Easter, celebrating Christ's ascension into heaven 40 days after his resurrection. Sensing says the Ascension is the elephant in the living room of 21st-century, North American Christian faith.The 21st-century Western mind pretends the miracle isn't there. We search for the moral of the story or its implied meaning for our day...

It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, May 13, 2004
The headline is also the title of a very good book that I've read half of, so far, a book I found via Mark D. Roberts' blog. It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, subtitled "How the Community of God Transforms Lives," was written by Tod E. Bolsinger, Ph.D., and is based on his doctoral dissertation. It argues powerfully for making church reflect the essence of the trinitarian God, which is three divine beings...

Cross Purposes, May 10, 2004
Headline in Sunday's Tennessean:Two men preparing to carry crosses charged with disorderly conductI didn't know it was a crime to openly profess Christianity in America....

Puppy Love, May 03, 2004
Mark D. Roberts is writing about death - and children learning about death and loss and grief in an unexpected way. Read the whole thing....

Politics and Religion, May 03, 2004
Michael Williams examines the intersection of politics and theology. Leave your heated comments on his blog, please!...

What is Justice?, April 27, 2004
Blake Wylie examines the question What is justice?, and explores whether churches are doing enough to help the poor. Read the whole thing....

Amazing Grace, April 22, 2004
Perhaps the greatest song ever written is Amazing Grace, penned by British slave ship captain-turned-Christian evangelist John Newton back in the early 1800s and put to the music of a waterfront drinking song. A few years ago, PBS's Bill Moyers produced a wonderful if long documentary on the song, showing it being performed by many different artists from many different genres of music. It is a song of amazing power, power that comes from the...

An Easter Message, April 11, 2004
The Resurrection means that the worst thing that happens to us is not the last thing that happens to us. - Donald Sensing. I wasn't planning on blogging at all today, but Donald Sensing has an Easter message you shouldn't miss, and I wanted to bring you the link before Easter was over. Er, actually, Easter is never really over - Christ's undeserved crucifixion, burial and triumphant resurrection are always there for you to claim,...

Easter Morning, April 11, 2004
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and...

...The Story Continues..., April 10, 2004
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This...

The Final Words of Jesus, April 10, 2004
On this the day before Easter, I recommend to you Mark D. Robert's excellent seven-part series on the final seven utterances of Jesus before he died on the cross. I especially like this snippet from the seventh installment......

Good Friday, April 09, 2004
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him...

Seeds, April 08, 2004
Here's some truly Good News. in Iraq. This is the best way to fight Islamofascist terrorism....

God.com, April 08, 2004
The Pew Internet & American Life research project has released its report, Faith Online, which finds that 64 percent of the nation’s 128 million Internet users have done things online that relate to religious or spiritual matters. Here's coverage from the San Jose Mercury News. The church of the future must be online and interactive....

What Would Jesus Blog?, April 07, 2004
Christian outreach is rightly going high-tech, hip and modern, reports FOX News.A gaggle of ministries have taken their biblical messages down unconventional paths to appeal to 20- and 30-somethings. Using Web sites, multi-media, pop culture and edgy language, organizations like www.relevantmagazine.com and Fireproof Ministries (and its anti-pornography Web site www.XXXchurch.com) are reaching out to young Christians in more modern ways than established organized religion ever has. ... The Web's activist role, especially among the 18-to-34...

Palm Sunday, The Passion, and Muslims, April 05, 2004
Donald Sensing has a good exploration of Palm Sunday. Also, once you've read it, scroll down or click here for his thoughts on whether The Passion of The Christ might be a catalyst for good in the Islamic world. And as long as we're on the subject of religion and The Passion here in the week before Easter, Rick White at The People's Church in Franklin, Tennessee, continues a series of lessons revolving around the...

Nobility and Faith, April 04, 2004
Here's an incredible story about Iraq and one of the amazing young Americans who fought there to liberate the Iraqi people - and the amazing way God used a 4-1/2 hour gunbattle to reveal His power.Lt. Steven Pierce knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of a miracle. That's how he views surviving an ambush near Najaf in Iraq almost a year ago. In the first five minutes of a 4½-hour gunbattle,...

From God's Eye, March 31, 2004
Rubel Shelly considers a moment from near the end of The Passion of the Christ:One of the wonderful things about art is its subtle ambiguities. The smile of the Mona Lisa. A poet's turn of phrase. The haunting refrain of a piece of music. Or a stunning visual metaphor in a movie. It is precisely the ambiguity of these words, sounds, and sights that creates multiple interpretations. Toward the end of Mel Gibson’s The Passion...

The Gift, March 30, 2004
Every once in awhile I write a comment on someone's blog, or sometimes responding to a reader's comment on my own blog, and decide later that it deserves to be its own blog post. A few posts below this, in the comments dealing with John Kerry's mis-use of a famous passage from the New Testament book of James, is such a comment, made in response to a reader who wrote that "obedience to God's commands...

Kerry's Heresy, March 29, 2004
John Kerry, campaigning in a church without provoking the media into howls of anger at the breaching of the separation of church and state, accused America's "national leadership) (Read: President Bush) of having a "dead" Christian faith, in a spectacular misapplication of one of the most beautiful - and most misapplied - verses in the Bible. LaShawn Barber has some great commentary on the incident. The flap revolves around James 2:14-17, which says......

A Community of Friends Who Haven't Met Yet, March 22, 2004
Blogger Scott Elliott, who lost his parents in Iraq, has responded to an outpouring of condolences from around the blogosphere.The news of my parents' death has been received by millions the world over. Many have responded with notes of sympathy for me and my family through comments on this site and through emails. I have read them all and cried over many of them. My heart is truly blessed by the outpouring of support. In...

The Passion: A Reflection on Satan, March 15, 2004
The more I reflect on The Passion of The Christ, the more every character and scene in the picture fades into the background of the central confrontation of the film, the battle between Jesus and Satan. I think this piece by Rubel Shelly captures the essence of the Satan character rather well....

Final Passion, March 11, 2004
Donald Sensing on two ways of seeing The Passion of The Christ:The primary reason Christians and Jews see two different movies on the screen is that Christians tend to see the movie as a theological drama while Jews tend to see it as an historical drama. The vast majority of Christians I have discussed the movie with can identify at least a few of the anti-Semitic scenes, but are by far struck much more strongly...

The Passion Rolls On, March 11, 2004
Mel Gibson could make as much as $200 million from The Passion of The Christ, a fantastic return on his personal investment of $30 million to make the film and, the way I see it, a just reward for Gibson having the courage and faith to spend his personal wealth to make a film that Hollywood said would ruin him, but a film Gibson says he felt called to make. Instead of ruining him, The...

Passionate Love, March 10, 2004
You absolutely must read Jared Keller's review of The Passion of The Christ. (It's titled "A Reflection" and posted Monday, March 8, if the blogspot link fails to take you to it, as blogspot links are wont to do.) I was highlighting a section to excerpt and found that I'd highlighted most of it. I'll restrain myself to just a few paragraphs below, so you'll go and read the whole thing. Keller wrote an amazing...

California Killing Religious Freedom, March 10, 2004
Religious freedom is under assault in California. Shawn Macomber reports......