Culture &amp; Public Square

Giving to Caesar and Giving God the Glory

By Jennifer Johnson I just finished two hours of sorting paperwork, receipts, and credit card printouts into piles: Business travel. Charitable giving. Home office expenses. Mortgage payments. I”m not sure it”s possible for taxes to be any more complex than mine are this year. I”m self-employed, which in itself is a carnival of fun. Halfway through the year I got married and moved to Pennsylvania, which has state income tax, from Tennessee, which doesn”t. I left a house behind, which I”m now renting through an agent. My new husband is a minister, which comes with its own set of tax

April 29, 2013

Culture & Public Square Justice

Milligan Students Provide a “˜Ministry of Justice”

By Jennifer Johnson In 1959, Congress discovered the tax code law was too complicated for the average citizen (there”s a surprise), so it commissioned the Internal Revenue Service to start a volunteer-based program to help the public complete tax forms. VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, serves people with annual incomes of less than $50,000, anyone with a physical disability, non-English-speaking citizens, and people older than 55. The IRS trains the volunteers and stations VITA sites in libraries, schools, and malls. Dr. Harold Branstrator, assistant professor of business administration at Milligan College in Tennessee, worked as a revenue agent and

April 22, 2013

Culture & Public Square Justice

Restoring God”s Justice

By Jason Rodenbeck Friday night I watched celebration on the news. The second Boston Marathon bomber had been captured. A city was finally resting after a horrific nightmare. And an angry (and increasingly frightened) nation breathed a sigh of relief. Why “frightened?” Whether because there are more of them or we are just hearing about more of them, tragedies like this one seem more prevalent and closer to home than ever. Even in a country where we generally feel safe and secure, we feel a growing uneasiness as the world seems to spin out of control. There is evil everywhere

April 16, 2013

Better Than Leaving

By Mark A. Taylor Last week I came across a quote by a famous poet (although I hadn”t heard of him), and it resonated with an issue I”ve been pondering awhile. Rod Padgett, writing in How to Be Perfect, said this: “Forgive your country every once in a while. If that is not possible, go to another one.” At first we might call the advice absurd. “I can”t go to another country. My family is here. My work is here. I was born here, and things should change so I can be happier here! After all, I”m right about what”s

April 5, 2013

“˜How Else Can We Adequately Share a Mysterious God?”

By Jennifer Johnson On Christmas, in the evening, I logged into Facebook and read rave after rhapsodic rave about the movie version of Les MisÃ©rables. “It took my breath away, it clarified my world,” wrote one. “Can the grace of God save a man”s life and his soul, and make him a rescuer and a carrier of hope to all men? The “˜yes of God” plays out before your eyes. I have never preached a message that said it so well.” Although I”m not quite as big a fan of the movie (I”m pretty sure my 14-year-old stepson could have

March 22, 2013

The Rise of the “˜Nones”

By Tim Harlow The front page of USA Today said, “Protestants lose majority status in the US” (October 9, 2012). It just happened to catch my eye as I walked past a newsstand. I thought to myself, OK, but what could have taken its place? CatholicismÂ is dying””is this aboutÂ Mormonism? The article explained that Protestant numbers are down from 53 percent in 2007 to 48 percent today. But these Protestants didn”t switch to a new religious brand. They just let go of any faith affiliation or label. According to the Pew Forum, one in five Americans now claims no religious identity.

March 3, 2013

Culture & Public Square Technology

ASL Version of Bible Released as Mobile App

By Jennifer Johnson Deaf Missions, producer of The Bible: American Sign Language Version, recently released this Bible translation for the deaf as a mobile application for smartphones and tablets. The free app, Deaf Bible.is ASL, was developed by Faith Comes By Hearing, a leading audio Bible ministry based in Albuquerque, NM, using the video content translated and produced by Deaf Missions. The entire New Testament and 22 books of the Old Testament currently translated into American Sign Language (ASL) are included, along with the 2001 English Standard Version text of the whole Bible. The mobile app also features the sign

December 13, 2012

The “˜Merry Christmas” Flap

By Mark A. Taylor Before I say what I want to say, let me say what many readers will want to hear: I happily greet waiters and store clerks and anyone else (not just Christians) with “Merry Christmas.” Likewise, my Christmas cards this year, as they have every year, will proclaim “Merry Christmas.” I avoid “Happy Holidays” and “Season”s Greetings” and flinch whenever I encounter either greeting, whether at Wal-Mart or on the radio or from a smiling car salesman in a TV commercial. To me it”s just silly the lengths to which some will go to avoid the word

November 27, 2012

Ezekiel”s Endless Summer

By Jay Engelbrecht I tend to be skeptical, but the facts have convinced me. As new heat records continue to be set, decade after decade, as the evidence continues to mount, I can no longer deny that climate change is real. When my dad was growing up, his family butchered a cow every November, then hung a side of beef outside, and ate off it all winter. The meat never spoiled. I live in the same area, but these days, I play football in short sleeves with my son on November afternoons. Thirty years ago I helped a neighbor put

October 26, 2012

A Mormon President”” a Good Thing

By Brian Mavis Barack Obama is a professing Christian. Mitt Romney is a professing Mormon. Most of the Christian leaders I know are voting for the Mormon. The rise of Mormonism from animosity to acceptance to prominence is remarkable. In 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs gave an extermination order against the Mormons””an officially sanctioned desired holocaust. Next month, a Mormon may be our president. From death row to the Oval Office””not bad. Mormonism Is Going Mainstream Mormonism (aka, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has achieved acceptance and status, in part, by saying they are like us.

October 25, 2012

Say It Again, Ben!

By Mark A. Taylor Ben Cachiaras”s “Let Me Tell You How You Should Vote” continues to challenge readers to place their hope in God, not in the promises of politicians. It has garnered much positive response at our site and in personal correspondence to him and to our office. One preacher wrote to say he was making 800 copies of it to distribute as widely as he could. But one reader wrote Ben to debate a couple of his arguments. Ben”s response was so helpful I felt compelled to share at least one of his points here. He has given

October 18, 2012

Culture & Public Square Technology

Keeping it Christlike on Facebook

I”ll begin this week”s column with a couple of confessions. Confession One: I spend some time on Facebook every day, probably as much as the average user (20 minutes), and I don”t feel bad about it. After all, one in 13 people on the planet is a Facebook user, and more than half of them, like me, visit the site daily. That figures out to about 270 million others who could make my same confession; it”s a cinch I”m not alone. Confession Two: I plan to vote for Mitt Romney. And once again, with the polls consistently showing an American

September 29, 2012

Let Me Tell You How You Should Vote

By Ben Cachiaras As the 2012 elections approach, many feel there are no good options. Voting for one candidate or the other is like choosing whether you prefer to be hanged or shot. Others feel strongly there is only one clear option and how you vote is simply a matter of whether you are smart or stupid, a choice between acting as a courageous, loyal American, or a wimpy, fascist pig. It”s clear! I know many who are fearful about what is happening in our country, the economy, the fraying of moral fiber, the loss of freedoms we hold dear””fearful

September 4, 2012

Culture & Public Square Justice

The Whole in Our Gospel

By Tim Harlow The slogan I”m repeating these days: We”re called to bring Heaven to earth and take earth to Heaven. How well are we doing both? I took my dad to the World Series in Detroit in 2006. The Tigers were playing our beloved St. Louis Cardinals (we are lifelong Cardinal fans), and we had connections, so we went. I had never been to Tiger Stadium, so I relied on MapQuest to guide us there. We arrived at a stadium, but it looked pretty old and run down; the lights weren”t on, and there were no cars in the

September 3, 2012

Cooking with Poo Book Turning Heads Worldwide

By Jennifer Johnson It”s the attention-getting title of a new cookbook that”s received international attention””and helped Saiyuud “Chompoo” DiwongÂ create a new life for herself and her family in the Klong Toey slum of Bangkok. Poo began by offering cooking classes as part of a microenterprise initiative led by Ash and Anji Barker, directors of Urban Neighbors of Hope (UNOH), which partnered with Christian Missionary Fellowship (Indianapolis, IN) earlier this year. The Barkers and two other families live in theÂ Bangkok, Thailand, slums and lead community centers, a Christian school, the Helping HandsÂ microenterprise program, and more. Other UNOH teams live among the

August 24, 2012

Culture & Public Square Reconciliation

Something Stronger than Hate

By Daniel Schantz “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34, New King James Version). In William Wyler”s 1959 award-winning movie Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston plays the wealthy prince of Jerusalem who is arrested by the Roman occupiers and thrown into the dark belly of a Roman ship, where he must row his enemies wherever they wish to go. With every pull of the oar, Ben-Hur”s hate of the Romans deepens, especially for Messala, the tribune who made him a galley slave. At last, Ben-Hur escapes his nautical prison, and by a quirk of fate he

August 15, 2012

Is Modern Israel the Key to God’s Plan?

By Jon Weatherly Is the founding of the modern state of Israel a sign that Jesus will return soon? Does God judge today’s nations based on how they treat Israel, or Jews in general? Does the Bible teach Christians always to side with Israel in conflicts with its neighbors? Many American Christians would answer all of these questions in the affirmative. Through the influence of popular preachers and writers, they have come to believe the modern state of Israel plays a clear and crucial role in the Bible. They are therefore prepared to give unconditional, unqualified support to the nation

August 2, 2012

Culture & Public Square Race

Ohio Prophetic Voices Promotes Biblical Justice

By Jennifer Taylor Fifteen years ago, University Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) was the first white, Evangelical church to join The Amos Project, a group focused on developing the leadership skills of low-income and working families. This spring, University Christian pastor Troy Jackson helped launch a new initiative called Ohio Prophetic Voices, a collaboration of more than 100 faith leaders across the state. “For the last five or six years I”ve been growing in my passion for biblical justice and trying to figure out how to be salt and light,” Jackson says. “I want to see Evangelicals engaged in a way

July 25, 2012

Too Much Is at Stake to Forget

By Fred Liggin We are shaken by mourning as we hurt for those suffering due to the horrific events in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20. Yet even in our mourning, the political and social debates haveÂ already begun to light up the airwaves. And I am reminded of a most sobering reality. No government, regardless of how strong or well-meaning, can thoroughly legislate morality. To be sure, it can create laws that limit behaviors destructive to society (“You shall not steal”). But as a Christ follower, I am led to believe that only Jesus will bring lasting and systemic change (“You

July 15, 2012