Since the fire at Notre Dame on Monday, I’ve been awestruck by the thoughts of the longevity of that building. If you had asked me “when was Notre Dame built?” three days ago, I probably would have guessed 16th or 17th century. I knew it was old. I would have guessed it was older than America. I would not have guessed that the construction began in 1163 (around the time Genghis Khan was born). (more…)
Category: Faith
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Notre Dame, the Church, and the beauty of things that are bigger than ourselves
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Joaquin Phoenix changes Bible story while playing Jesus
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Actor Joaquin Phoenix plays Jesus in a new movie revolving around the life of Mary Magdalene. In the movie, Phoenix took liberty with one of the miracles of Jesus.
In John 9, Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. In John 9:6, the process by which Jesus heals the man is described as follows: “he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud.” (more…)
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The lost art of lament
Lament is a topic that is often overlooked in American churches (especially in predominately caucasian churches).Lament is very common in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. We see it as a theme throughout the prophetic books, and the Bible has more books on prophecy than in any other genre. We see it in places like Job, Ruth, and Ecclesiasties.Lament is not whining. -
Politicians decide to pick on Chick-fil-a
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Chick-fil-a has been the target of political ire in two different states in as many weeks. In late March, the San Antonio city council approved a new dining area in Terminal A of San Antonio International Airport. The agreement had originally included opening up a Chcik-fil-a location, but the council didn’t give approval until Chick-fil-a was excluded from the agreement.
While Chick-fil-a is one of the most beloved fast food restaurant chains in America, famous for it’s chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, lemonade, and excellent customer service, the company also has a strong foundation of Christian values which permeate throughout the chain.
Chick-fil-a does support organizations who share in the company’s traditional values, and some of those organizations oppose same-sex marriage. Among those groups are the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Salvation Army.
One piece of the story that I feel rarely gets mentioned in media reports is that FCA and the Salvation Army happen to oppose same-sex marriage and value traditional marriage, but that is not the primary reason for the existence of these organizations. It’s a result of their Biblical values.
The issue with airports discriminating against Chick-fil-a is that there isn’t evidence that the company actively discriminates against anyone. They serve everyone. And considering the federal funds which the airport receives, it’s illegal to discriminate against a company based on their religious values.
A similar situation happened last week when Chick-fil-a was given approval to open up at the Buffalo airport. Once again, people tried to block it.
Do politicians have nothing better to do?
A person has the ability to choose not to eat at Chick-fil-a if they find the company’s values to be so offensive that they just can’t support it.
It’s also ironic that I think of the calls to be inclusive, tolerant, and accepting, but then people want to bash a company for being true to their values. It’s this idea of “we’re inclusive, and if you’re not inclusive in the way we think is right, you should be excluded.”
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Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.
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Couldn’t God just forgive us? Why was the cross necessary?
A person might look at the crucifixion, look at what the Lord did on the cross, and wonder “Why was that the only way? Why was that necessary? Couldn’t God simply forgive us?”No.This is an idea I’ve heard from Tim Keller before, and it’s an important idea on having a theology of forgiveness.
