Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham has just published a new book titled The Hope of Glory. It is a reflection on the Seven Last words of Christ and our staff is currently reading it during the Season of Lent. In the Prologue of the book, he says this: “For Christians, the central truth of existence – our ultimate concern, in a phrase of Paul Tillich – is captured in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Without Good Friday, there is no Easter; without Easter, there is no deliverance from......

Read More

I recently gave a presentation to a group of attorneys in downtown Nashville. I began the talk by identifying five significant challenges facing American Culture at this particular point in history. First, we continue to see high levels of emptiness, meaninglessness, and rising deaths of despair. Many Americans do not know their purpose and live mundane lives where they feel ignored, invisible, and unloved. Depression, addiction, and suicide rates remain high. Second, loneliness and social isolation are still on the rise. Ben Sasse says, “Among epidemiologists, psychiatrists, public health officials, and social......

Read More

Within Protestant Christianity, we find both mainline and evangelical traditions. Mainline churches were much more dominant in the middle of the 20th century after World World II, and despite notable exceptions, have experienced significant declines in membership and participation. Many mainline congregations are aging and are not reaching younger adults and families. Mainline traditions include the United Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopalians, American Baptists, UCC, Disciples of Christ, Quakers, Reformed Church of America and African Methodist Episcopal. Evangelical traditions tend to be more conservative, often believe in biblical inerrancy, and feel the urgency of......

Read More