Multi(per)plexed
Christians remain divided about what a 'good' movie is
By Marshall Allen

"Investing: $158,000 Assessment Stirs Pastor's Wrath"
Twin Cities suburb wants church to pay for road improvements
Stephen Hunt

Well-Focused Preaching
Taking a clear picture of your preaching activities requires both wide-angle and zoom lenses.
Bill Hybels

Eat, Drink, and Relax
Think the Pilgrims would frown on today's football-tossing, turkey-gobbling Thanksgiving festivities? Maybe not.
Elesha Coffman

The Lord Our God Is One
Three Christians trace their roots back to the Hebrew Bible-and encounter God's present-day chosen people.
By Steven Gertz

What Makes This Week Holy?
Jewish and Christian celebrations this week aren't just springtime rituals.
By Timothy George

Investing as Love
Gary Moore's biblical approach to financial management
Cindy Crosby

Christian History Corner: The Ancient Rise and Recent Fall of Tithing
Is yet another time-honored Christian practice fading from view?
Collin Hansen

Evangelicals Plan to Minister to Iraqis' Needs—Physical and Spiritual
"Evangelism efforts will join relief work, say Southern Baptist Convention and Samaritan's Purse"
Mark O'Keefe

Too Much Choice?
On misdiagnosing the problem.
Andrew P. Morriss

Reflections: Sin and Evil
Quotations to stir heart and mind.
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Frozen Out
What to do with those extra embryos.
By John Van Regenmorter

Winking at Corruption No More
Christians help lead a worldwide movement opposing graft.
By Tony Carnes

First Things First
Teaching about worship by asking the right questions
Ron Rienstra

The Unflappable Condi Rice
Why the world's most powerful woman asks God for help
Sheryl Henderson Blunt

Cooling off Gay Agenda
PCUSA conservatives turn back liberal challenges
Douglas LeBlanc

Power in Punjab
Christians see churches—and opposition—grow among Sikhs
Manpreet Singh

Everyday Truths
"Simple activities bind families together and deepen their relationship with God, says the author of Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families"
Cindy Crosby

Reflections

Florida Bishop Defies Episcopal Church Head
The consecration of a new bishop becomes the latest battleground between Frank Griswold and the American Anglican Council
Douglas LeBlanc

Watch Your Mouth
"Church controversies in Britain and Australia focus on a dirty word, the Word of God, and whether premarital sex is really a sin."
Ted Olsen

Weblog: Chicago Church Raises Money to Hire Prostitutes
Plus: Dignified anger and judgment at Anglican meeting, Messianic Muslims, and The Cider House Doesn't Rule.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

"Aisle 4: Milk, Bread, and God"

"Empty Stomach, Full Heart"
Betty Steele Everett

Forgetting God
Why decadence drives out discipline.
By Philip Yancey

Anglican Priest Hopes to Boldly Go Where No Clergyman Has Gone Before
Ken Clapham wants to be the international space station's chaplain.
Cedric Pulford

The CT Review: Andy Griffith Is My Copilot
Joey Fann's popular TV-based Bible study spins off an episode guide/devotional
Edward Gilbreath

What George Bush's Favorite Devotional Writer Says About War
"War is the most damnably bad thing, wrote Oswald Chambers"

Books & Culture Corner: Train Up a Child
Helping children to become intimately familiar with Scripture
Susan R. Garrett

Making Space for God
What spiritual direction is, and why evangelicals are increasingly attracted to it. An interview with Holy Invitations author Jeannette Bakke
Jennifer H. Disney

Worldview Boot Camp
Evangelical young people need training in the truth about truth.
By Charles Colson with Anne Morse

Spying New Leaders
They may not step forward. Here's how to find the leaders you need.
by Angela Yee

First Things First
Teaching about worship by asking the right questions
Ron Rienstra

Lewis the Letter-Writer
An unconscious autobiography in two volumes of correspondence.
By Michael Ward

From Duty to Delight
I'd become self-absorbed and numb. Could I learn to live and love again?
By Scott Ranck

Kissing the Lizard
On memory and forgiveness.
by Miroslav Volf

A Sureer Footing
A Leadership Interview

Stuck on the Road to Emmaus
The secret to why we are not fulfilled.
Mark Buchanan

Islam 101
Basics of a foreign faith
by James A. Beverley

A Daily Repentance Workout
"As we grow in knowledge of ourselves, God's grace allows us to resist habitual sin and grow in self-control"
Frederica Mathewes-Green

Weblog: A Christian in Ramadan
Captive Burnhams are not doing well, Billy Graham HQ moves to Charlotte, and other stories from around the world
Ted Olsen

Soul Health
You can't be fruitful if you neglect the Source.
By Mindy Caliguire

Authentic Fellowship
How do we learn the deep 'one another' community of Scripture without being in close proximity?
Karen Shepard

Good & Evil in Middle-earth
The characters are mythic, but the epic sweeps across a Christian moral landscape.
Ralph C. Wood

First Things First
Teaching about worship by asking the right questions
Ron Rienstra

Johnny Cash's Song of Redemption
How the coolest man in the music industry became that way while singing about Jesus and the Cross
Ted Olsen

The Smiling Grandfather Clock
"On Father's Day, the Holy Ghost helped me finally connect the dots and glimpse God's character"
Evelyn Bence

Let's Dance
Bryan D. Spinks

Furthermore | Marilyn Chandler McEntyre: Resisting Relevancy
The church suffers when pastors confuse anecdotes with parables
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

The CT Review: It's Called Junk Food for a Reason
Two books explore the differences between true nourishment and its counterfeits
Lauren F. Winner

Yancey: Getting to Know Me
In most ways important to God, I had failed miserably.

Trying Patience on for Size
If Christians are to be clothed with patience, why do so many of us feel naked?
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

Rediscovering the Holy Spirit, Part 1
Bible scholar Gordon Fee thinks we have domesticated the Holy Spirit and missed the point of his mission
By Wendy Murray Zoba

In Praise of Anonymity
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

Christianity Today News Briefs
Booting the Salvation Army, falling giving, and suing for rights.
By CT staff

Weblog: 12 Injured in Attack on Pakistan Bible Society
Plus: Buddhists burn another church in Sri Lanka, some conservative Christians are nonplussed by Bush's marriage initiative, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Growing Edge Book Review: The Secret to Getting Things Done
Three overlooked processes between vision and completion.
Ed Rowell

Despite Protestant Growth, Hispanic Catholicism Holds Steady in U.S.
Younger generations leaving for Protestant churches, but immigrants make up difference
Jeff M. Sellers

Conversations

Despite Protestant Growth, Hispanic Catholicism Holds Steady in U.S.
Younger generations leaving for Protestant churches, but immigrants make up difference
Jeff M. Sellers

Currents That Shape Your Soul

The Learning Curve
A Leadership symposium

'Boston Movement' Apologizes
Open letter prompts leaders of controversial church to promise reform
John W. Kennedy

"Lutherans, Presbyterians Cut Budgets"
Staff positions and ministries trimmed in the face of a struggling economy
"RNS, wire reports"

Reflections: Suffering & Grief
Quotations to stir the heart and mind
Richard A. Kauffman

God's Calling Plan
So what exactly is a call to ministry?
Gordon MacDonald

Helping Others Answer the Call
Your response to those who feel called may affect the future course of their ministry. An interview with Maxie Dunnam
An interview with Maxie Dunnam

Finding God's Will, or Hearing God's Voice?
Rejecting formulas to find guidance
Richard P. Hansen

Baptism + Fire
Suffering may build character, but ultimately it's not about us.
By Mark Galli

Wind of Terror, Wind of Glory
We cannot know God's majesty without his terrible holiness.
by Daniel Tomberlin

Christian History Corner: Holy America, Phoebe!
It swept across church lines, transforming America's urban landscape with its rescue missions and storefront churches. Yet today, the holiness movement and its charismatic woman leader are all but forgotten.
By Chris Armstrong

True (and False) Transformation
John Ortberg

Christian History Corner: Sacrifice at Sea
The story that wasn't in James Cameron's Titanic.
By Elesha Coffman | posted 8/11/00

Reflections: Classic & Contemporary Excerpts
Classic and contemporary excerpts on beauty, prayer, and loving God

Good Boundaries Make Good Christians
The difference between welcome and inclusion
Good Fences, reviewed by David Neff

Meeting Professor Tolkien
An American professor spent a summer with Tolkien. He remembers the man, his faith, and his writings.
Clyde S. Kilby

Currents That Shape Your Soul

I Want
Thou shalt not covet
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

After Experience?
William James and consumer religion
Christopher Shannon

Let's Get Personal
Yes, the church needs to get past modernity's impersonal techniques. But adding the prefix post doesn't solve anything
Andy Crouch

The Two Eliots
To all appearance, a biographer writes, "Eliot was conventional, mild, decorous, yet the hidden character was daring and savage."
Jewel Spears Brooker

Working with Your Emotional Type
Gordon MacDonald

Submitting to Islam—or Dying
Ceasefires and peace talks bow to greater powers in Sudan
Jeff M. Sellers

After Babel
Two Arab poets-one Palestinian, the other Iraqi- and the vicissitudes of exile and translation
Laurance Wieder

Weblog: Bogus Claims of Abuse Leveled Against Martyred Missionary
Church opposes suspension of atheist pastor, and many other stories from online sources around the world.
Ted Olsen

Weblog: Church Murders Old and New
Three killed in Colombian church attack as a verdict comes for Oscar Romero 24 years after his martyrdom. Plus: is the religion gap smaller than the money gap?
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Korean Hostage Was Reportedly Evangelizing in Iraq
Plus: What the leaked NAE statement on politics really says, what the Catholic bishops said about Communion, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Jesus in Beijing
by David Lyle Jeffrey

Dangerous Meditations
What harm is there in achieving a higher state of consciousness through meditation?
By Douglas Groothuis

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

The Sage of Walden Pond
I should not talk so much about myself if there were any body else whom I knew as well.
by Lauren F. Winner

Reflections: Discipleship
Quotations to stir heart and mind
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Weblog: Pope Warns Archbishop of Canterbury of Unity 'Difficulties'
"Meanwhile, Rowan Williams speaks of a clear sense of limits in the Anglican Communion"
Ted Olsen

Coming Attractions
Gay activism is not just found in liberal churches
Christianity Today editorial

CALLING PLAYS THE PLAYERS CAN PLAY
An interview with Kennon Callahan
Marshall Shelley and Mark Galli

Time Bandits
Steven McKinley

Overseeing Staff
Don Cousins

Moving on Many Fronts
Preaching, social concern, missions, ecumenicity were among the major emphases of Pietism.
GARY SATTLER Gary R. Sattler, Th.D., is Assistant Professor of Christian Formation and Discipleship, and Director of the Office of Christian Community at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California

Catholic + American = ?
How a communal body made its peace with liberal democracy.
by Allen Guelzo

Far from Busyness
"Teaching the Dead Bird to Sing wrestles with overwork, discouragement, and doubt"
Cindy Crosby

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times
The moral complexity of the American Revolution.
Mark Noll

Q & A: Bobby Welch
President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), on his five-week national bus tour, which ended October 7, to jump-start evangelism in the 16.3-million-member denomination. The SBC has experienced a four-year decline in baptisms.
Interview by Stan Guthrie

Wooing the Faithful
President Bush needs evangelicals more than ever, but it's unclear how badly they want him for another four years.
By Tony Carnes

American Idols
Larry Crabb says there's something better than control and success.
The Leadership Interview

Acceptable Losses

What About Purgatory?
The doctrinal grounding of Dante's mysterious mountain.
Dennis Martin

The Bishop at Work
Augustine saw himself not as a saint, but as a pastor with a job to do.
Bruce L. Shelley

The Place of Prayer
What exactly took place in a synagogue service?
John McRay

Todd Komarnicki: Producer, Director, Writer—and Believer
The producer of Elf explains how his Christian faith affects his career as a Hollywood producer, director, and writer
Jeffrey Overstreet

Scripture Saturation
To achieve holiness, believed the early monks, you must soak in the moral sense of the Word.
Patrick Henry Reardon

Origen's Monastic Legacy

Mary Heart, Martha Brain
How can I focus on one thing—prayer—when so many things need to be done?
Kathy Callahan-Howell

Managing a Meandering Mind
Brad Preston

Books: Devotions on the Run
Help for going short and deep.

I Lost It
Noted missiologist Ruth Tucker shines a light on the netherworld of apostasy in Walking Away from Faith
Wendy Murray Zoba

What I Wish I'd Known Before I Quit
Anthony Laird

Pastor's Progress
Gordon MacDonald

Word Become Flesh
Quotations to Stir Heart and Mind
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Reflections: Following the Star
Quotations to stir heart and mind
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Reflections: Advent
"Quotations to stir the heart and mind from Augustine, Madeleine L'Engle, and Walter Wangerin, Jr"
Richard A. Kauffman

Small Worldview
Read Mercer Schuchardt

Burying Smokey
Clark Cothern

PHILIP YANCEY: Why Not Now?
Philip Yancey

The Punk Rocker with a Ph.D.
Greg Graffin, frontman of Bad Religion, has a freshly minted doctorate in evolutionary biology and a new album coming soon.
by Preston Jones

Missing Jewish Ways
Lauren Winner's latest book explores how 11 aspects of Judaism can enrich Christian practice
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

First Things First
Teaching about worship by asking the right questions
Ron Rienstra

Human Sacrifice Redux
How the church battles deadly prophets in its midst.
By Obed Minchakpu in Jos

Weblog: Ravi Zacharias, Rich Mouw Speak in Mormon Tabernacle
Plus: Couple attempts to sacrifice children at church altar, the new head of the Catholic bishops' conference, a focus on Dobson, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Out of the Darkness
Entering the world of Krzysztof Kieslowski.
by Roy Anker

What Heresy?
The things Neo-Gnostic seekers find lacking in Christianity-experiential insight, mysticism, a direct link to God-are already there
Frederica Mathewes-Green

Good for the Soul
Frederica Mathewes-Green

The Pull
Two lives drawn to God
Betty Carter

Fat!
The science of obesity.
By Elissa Elliott

Good for the Soul
Frederica Mathewes-Green

Civil Reactions: A Beautiful Reminder
Ron Howard's Oscar-winning film packs an unintentional biblical message.
Stephen L. Carter

"Walking the Old, Old Talk"
The cultural success of evangelicalism is its greatest weakness
Christianity Today editorial

Good for the Soul
Frederica Mathewes-Green

A Soul of Fire
William Wade Harris - a Liberian activist - left an unsuccessful local ministry to trail across the Ivory Coast. In 18 months, he baptized 100,000 converts.
Elizabeth Isichei

Good for the Soul
Frederica Mathewes-Green

The Art of Self Leadership
Your toughest management challenge is always yourself.
Bill Hybels

The Transcendental Gore
The Democratic nominee for president combines a modernist Christian faith with a drive to master his world. By Tony Carnes
Tony Carnes

Whither Pentecostal Scholarship?
The overlap between people with the Spirit and people with Ph.D.'s.
By Arlene M. SÁnchez Walsh

When Your Wife Resents Your Call
A disconnect at home has a variety of causes.
Linda Riley

Minutes From Death
by Tom Severson

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

The Leprosy Doctor
Paul Brand showed how to serve others sacrificially and emerge with joy
Philip Yancey

Growing Edge Book Review: Why Words Follow Works
When explosive evangelism fizzles and servant evangelism doesn't work, what's next?
Kathy Callahan-Howell

Nice Yet Naughty
A no-nonsense book of female sex addiction is finally here.
Agnieszka Tennant

We Must Never Be Silent About Suffering
The CT religious rights debate continues
Michael Horowitz

"Weblog: Decisions, Decisions"
Judges and church judiciaries rule on denominational conflicts.
Ted Olsen

Too Much Choice?
On misdiagnosing the problem.
Andrew P. Morriss

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Soul Health
You can't be fruitful if you neglect the Source.
By Mindy Caliguire

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

The Sage of Walden Pond
I should not talk so much about myself if there were any body else whom I knew as well.
by Lauren F. Winner

Soul Health
You can't be fruitful if you neglect the Source.
By Mindy Caliguire

Why Paul Loved His Body
2 Corinthians doesn't teach that flesh and spirit are opposites, Michael Wittmer says.
By Ann Byle

God's Astounding Laws of Nature
"I like to think of God as developing his skills, said Dr. Paul Brand"
Philip Yancey

A Mind on Fire
Throughtout his eventful life, America's theologian was driven by a vision of the beauty in God's sovereignty.
Stephen R. Holmes

Prayer Warriors
E-Mail newsletters are helping hundreds of thousands to pray about the war
John W. Kennedy

Why Pray?

Good News from the Doctor
A longtime TV physician's tortuous search leads to an informal apologetic.
Reviewed by Jeff M. Sellers

A Home for Nomads
M. Craig Barnes explores spirituality for restless souls
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Lasting Influence
A Leadership Forum
A Leadership Forum

Temptations in Disaster
A ministry leader in Sri Lanka advises his colleagues on spiritual disciplines during a crisis.
By Ajith Fernando in Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Good Fight
4 spiritual disciplines to keep fights from scarring your soul.
By Mark Buchanan

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Soul Health
You can't be fruitful if you neglect the Source.
By Mindy Caliguire

The Habits of Highly Effective Bible Readers
What we can learn from the church fathers that will enrich our own Bible study.
A conversation with Christopher A. Hall

Currents: In Search of Spiritual Community
A converstation with Carmen Renee Berry
A conversation with Carmen Renee Berry

How Pastors Rate as Leaders
Leadership surveys pastors and their congregations.
Eric Reed and Collin Hansen

Experiencing God's Presents
"The church is not a bus where one person does the driving. It's like an anthill, where everyone works"
J.I. Packer

Growing Edge: Book Review

Muslims at Home in America
Christians have a part to play in helping Islam adapt to democracy.
A Christianity Today editorial

Good Question: Which Miracles Are Real?
"How can we tell which miracles, signs and wonders are of God?"
J. Rodman Williams

Finding the Grace Gates

Wind of Terror, Wind of Glory
We cannot know God's majesty without his terrible holiness.
by Daniel Tomberlin

Ghosts of Conflicts Past
This church had been stalking its pastors for generations. Now it was time to stop.
By Dan Cooley

The Passion of Mel Gibson
Why evangelicals are cheering a movie with profoundly Catholic sensibilities.
David Neff

Currents that shape your soul
Kevin A. Miller

Taking Care of Busyness
How to minister at a healthy pace.
John C. Ortberg

Brown-Out

Changed by the Unchanging
A new take on the spiritual disciplines calls for a little more action and a lot more love.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Condoms Fail. So Does Condom-Based Sex Ed.
Yet abstinence-only advocates say their programs do work.
Todd Hertz

Weblog: The Great Physician Is In
Studying the benefits and perils of religious belief on physical health—including pregnancy.
Ted Olsen

Baptism + Fire
Suffering may build character, but ultimately it's not about us.
By Mark Galli

Killing with Kindness
Why is the church against euthanasia in instances where people are in terrible pain?
Answered by David P. Gushee

Limit Conditions
How to portray the Holocaust on stage and film.
By Jan Lüder Hagens

My Words in Your Mouth
by Ken Ulmer

Rehearsing the Covenant
Adam Hamilton

The School of Joy
Ben Patterson

Opinion Roundup: Let Us Be Thankful
What are Christian thought leaders thankful for this year?
Todd Hertz

Weblog: Bush Tells America to Give Thanks
Plus: City Journal attacks moral lethargists, New York gets a Dead Sea Scroll, and other stories from around the world.
Todd Hertz & David Neff

Thanksgiving at Fair Acres
A meal with my mother and other nursing-home residents opened a small crack in their stony detachment, and gave a brief glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.
By Virginia Stem Owens

It's Hard to Hug a Bully
It is easier to repay evil for evil, but then all you've got is evil.
Barbara Brown Taylor

The Manipulation Game
"Fred Smith, Sr"

The Learning Curve
A Leadership symposium

Furthermore: The Fullness of Time
I'd like life to be a series of pauses like a poem, rather than a fast-paced, page-turner airport novel.
By Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

PHILIP YANCEY: Why Not Now?
Philip Yancey

Hostage Vigil: Families of Hostage Couple Wait
Men's prayer group for Burnhams perseveres six days a week.
Corrie Cutrer

A Wake-Up Call to Become Global Christians
"The deadly attacks on America will provoke many responses, but Christians are commanded to love our neighbors."
Miriam Adeney

WHEN SLEEP WON'T COME
Cary Weisiger

Weblog: Battle Brews Over Warfare Language (Or: Mission Minded Groups Attempt to Heal Each Others' Vocabularies)
Plus: Amy Grant is pregnant, memories of Wedgwood, and other stories from media sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

PASTOR DAVID OR PASTOR SOLOMON?
Sometimes we are called to fight worthy battles, sometimes to build God's house.
Robert L. Moeller

Overcoming the Evil One

Why I Walked
Sometimes loving a denomination requires you to fight
J. I. Packer

With God on Our Side?
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.
Tim Stafford

Holding This Fort

Colson: What Are We Doing Here?

Authentic Fellowship
How do we learn the deep 'one another' community of Scripture without being in close proximity?
Karen Shepard

A Journalist in Babylon
The need for a critical mass in the Fourth Estate
Stan Guthrie

Sex and the Single Christian
No, chastity isn't archaic.
Agnes Howard

Patrick Redux-Again
The Western Church's continuing romance with Celtic Christianity
T. M. Moore

Weblog: Episcopal Church Officially Promotes Idol Worship
Women's Eucharist calls for worship of pagan deities specifically condemned in Scripture.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Stranger in a Strange Land-In Rembrandt's Light
John Wilson

Rabbit Trails to God
John Updike has made a career of writing the most theological novels in America
Mark A. Buchanan

The Groves of Academe
Arguing About God, Arguing with God: Remembering Lew Smedes
Richard Mouw