Peter Enns, one of the leading evangelical professors of Old Testament, has been suspended from his tenured post at Westminster Theological Seminary after debate about how his book Inspiration and Incarnation matched up with the institution's doctrinal statement.  I don't go to Westminster, I don't know much about it other than it is named after the confession it espouses, and I only know of a friend of a friend who goes there.  I will steer clear of any rash judgements and leave the explanations to this Christianity Today article: Westminster Theological Suspension.

My concern, as with the Shane Claiborne incident at Wheaton, is that Christian institutions are using religious and theological smoke and mirrors games as power plays of political ambition and as battlegrounds for influence.  The kinds of reactions that some presbyteries are quoted as having in the CT article smell of hyperbole and guilt by association tactics.  Peter Enns is an evangelical theologian, I would not even classify what I have read of him (all articles back in my PBU days) as moderately liberal, and he is certainly not a lunatic. ... more

Over in the land of fabriche eggs and stacking dolls the Russian Orthodox church has organized a campaign against a Coca-Cola marketing scheme on their refrigerated machines.  Coca-Cola had branded the machines with a picture of a Russian Orthodox church in an attempt to Russianize their corn-syrup and artificial flavor laced products.

During Wednesday's CNN/YouTube GOP debate, the candidates were asked the following question by a YouTube user: ''The death penalty, what would Jesus do?'' The funniest answer came from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who after being pressed to say definitively whether or not Jesus would endorse the death penalty responded, ''Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.'' (You can see the full answer more

Today NPR has an encouraging story about US military chaplains in Iraq trying to protect an ancient Chaldean Catholic monastery in the midst of armed conflicts.

An excerpt:

An interesting story has been circulating on the news, that in the governor of Georgia has hosted a prayer meeting where they prayerfully asked God to bring rain to the drought-stricken region.  It seems, for the most part, is that the reason this is news is because people had become complacent in their blessedness and this type of thing hasn't happened for a long time.

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Everyday Liturgy contributor Thomas Turner was interviewed for an article in the Bergen Record discussing young Christian's association with the term ''Christian.''  The article is copied below.

Survey: Christian image takes a hit
Thursday, October 18, 2007

By ADELLE M. BANKS
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

Young people have graded Christianity, and so far, the report card doesn't look good.

A new book based on research by the California-based firm The Barna Group said that young people in America find modern-day Christianity judgmental, hypocritical and anti-gay.

What's more, some Christians don't even want to call themselves ''Christian'' because of the baggage that accompanies the label.

''The Christian community's ability to take the high road and help to deal with some of the challenges that this [anti-gay] perception represents may be the ... defining response of the Christian church in the next decade,'' said David Kinnaman, Barna Group president and author of the book, ''UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity.''

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The role of the pastor, as a shepherd of disciples and converts, is one of care and compassion.  Whether you live by green pastures or find your flock in a draught-stricken desert, pastors find their vocation in laying down themselves for their flock and guiding their disciples as the Spirit leads them.  Below follows quotes from two pastors serving on the fringe of hot-button issues in America, immigration and war.  In such polarizing areas of thought it is thought-provoking to hear from fellow Christians who are serving in dark places.

Christianity travels to some weird and dark places, pushing the envelope in worldly ways and spiritual ways.  And sometimes you can never quite tell if the Bride is being a model wife or a whore.  I have weird feelings about the whole Left Behind multimedia marketing empire and how they have found a way to push products to fundamentalists and evangelicals through hubris (''we fly away you die, suckers!'') and to non-Christians through wonder and fear (''all these religious people say I am going to die!'').  I went to a Christian college that proposed dispensationalism (the th

A retiring Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands has proposed that Christians begin calling God ''Allah'' in order to foster communication and understanding with Muslims. While there are probably numerous theological problems and implications with this suggestion, the thing that struck me was when Bishop Muskens said, ''What does God care what we call him? It is our problem.'' God doesn't care what we call him?