When I was in Sunday school as a kid, one of my clearest memories was the fill-in-the-blank type of questions we would be asked. The teacher would say, "and WHO should you turn to when you need to face a tough decision?" The answer was always 'Jesus', even if my first thought was something else. …
Hot Topic: Abortion
Over the next four weeks at The Ave, we are looking at four hot topics in our culture today. Too often Christians avoid discussing these issues for fear of offending someone or coming off too strong, or even for causing division within their own community. In this series we want to understand the boundaries of …
Missionaries Expelled from Venezuela
In August, Pat Robertson spoke some ill-advised words about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his links to terrorism. I made some comments about those words at the time. That set the ball rolling for difficulties for missionaries in Venezuela, including some friends of mine. As the ball has continued to roll, the Venezuelan government is …
Being ‘Old School’ About Gay Marriage?
I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR this morning, when I heard an interesting piece on legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts. While gay marriage is now legal in the state, there is a piece of legislation from 1913 that bars any non-Massachusetts resident from being married there if their own state law does not …
The Gospel Advertised
You might be interested in taking a look at the following article on the BBC about recent advertising efforts by churches in the UK. There is plenty of grist for discussion about how far we should go in church or as Christians in trying to 'market' our faith. You might also want to take a …
Matthew Erickson 