The movie Miracles from Heaven is based on the true story of a young girl, Annabel Beam, who suffered for years with two digestive disorders. One day while climbing with her sisters, she fell headfirst into the hollow trunk of a tree. While the events that ensued may raise the suspicions of the skeptic, … Continue reading To Heaven and Back II: Miracles from Heaven
Heaven is for Real is a motion picture released in 2014 based on the book, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, published in 2010. It’s billed as the true life story of the Burpo family living in the small town of Imperial, Nebraska.
C.S. Lewis, Author and Scholar, 1898-1963 In the preface to The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis presents his allegory as a kind of counterpoint to William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake, a celebrated artist and poet, supported the idea of ‘spirituality,’ and was a fierce critic of organized religion. According to the … Continue reading Reflections on C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce
The African Methodist Episcopal Church is one of America’s most venerable African-American institutions. With 2.5 million members [1] in thirty-five countries on five continents [2] it is one of the most populous and oldest black churches founded in the United States. When a young talented preacher and former slave named Richard Allen led a small … Continue reading Richard Allen and the AME Church, Part 1: Richard Allen
Clive Staples Lewis is one of the giants of twentieth century Christian apologetics. His reasoned and erudite defence of the Christian faith in books, essays, lectures and letters have persuaded and inspired many for decades. However it was the illness and death of his wife, Helen Joy Davidman, that severely tested his faith, that forced … Continue reading Reflections on C. S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed
The writers and stories behind ten of our most beloved and influential hymns. All Creatures of Our God and King – St. Francis of AssisiA Mighty Fortress Is Our God – Martin LutherDoxology (Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow) — Thomas KenChrist the Lord is Risen Today — Charles WesleyAmazing Grace – John … Continue reading Sacred Songs: Stories behind ten of our most beloved hymns
Amid a driving rain Air Force One touched down in Havana, Cuba on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20, 2016. The President and the First Family descended the steps under a family of stiff black umbrellas, and TV reporters and pundits struggled to find a metaphor that fit the historic occasion. Finally one commentator, steel … Continue reading Bob Dylan and the Gospel Songs
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are among the most venerated figures of the twentieth century. Though worlds apart–South Africa, India and the United States–their fight for social justice and human rights are integral to how the world has come to view the fight against oppression, discrimination and injustice. Through an unshakable faith in … Continue reading Gandhi to King: Satyagraha to the Civil Rights Movement
Arguably three of the most influential African Americans of the 19th century are Harriet Tubman, the ‘Moses’ of her people; the abolitionist Frederick Douglass; and Sojourner Truth. They may in fact be three of the most influential Americans of any race of that era. Truth was an itinerant preacher, anti-slavery activist, and women’s rights activist. … Continue reading Sojourner Truth Part 1: Isabella
Howard Thurman During the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reportedly carried a copy of a book entitled Jesus and the Disinherited with him. The author of the book was Howard Thurman, a theologian, pastor and professor, who, by some accounts, would become a mentor to several leaders of the … Continue reading Howard Thurman: Jesus and the Disinherited