"I am sure that when we spoke our marriage vows," said Janet, "Bob added 'to have and to hold as long as I'm the boss.' " She was sitting in my office after four years of trying to stand on equal ground with her husband. According to her, Bob never lets go of the reins. Literally.

Q: Is there a "Christian" way to think about, and use, power and authority?

“Institutions are the lengthened shadows of great men and women” (adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, Self-Reliance). Bertha Munro (1884-1974) was the great woman who cast just such a shadow and Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts was, and is, the institution. She was a Christian higher education administrator, writer, speaker, and lay theologian, as well as a beloved professor, a dominant academic voice, and a driving force in the liberal arts tradition.

A visiting speaker at a church was impressed by the enthusiasm of the students in the church school's physical education class. 'I exercise, too,' he sighed, faintly smiling at the pastor. 'Every morning I awaken to the alarm, jump from bed and run around the block six times.' As the pastor offered hearty praise, the man continued, 'Then I kick the block under the bed and go back to sleep.'

I enjoy receiving and collecting newsletters sent out by missionaries. These letters, as well as missionary blog sites, lead me to pray for those who are serving Christ in exciting ways. I recently received a group E-mail from a missionary telling an incredible story about a young woman being sent from Latin America to Europe. That in itself is amazing and historical. The letter told how the young woman prepared to leave her home country, trained for her new cross-cultural experience, and raised support for two years of mission service in Europe.

The Bible clearly shows us that holiness depends on God's call—God's choosing. In the Old Testament, many things, such as the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and the Sabbath, are holy because God chose them to stand in a special relationship to Him. The church, likewise, is holy because God called it to be the body of Christ and the bride of Christ.

“We can hardly stand the wait! / Please Christmas, don’t be late.” Most of you can hear the song in your head immediately, can’t you? Those squeaky, aggravating chipmunk voices singing the Christmas song we all love to hate. The song is a trite (and annoyingly persistent!) example of secular culture’s approach to Christmas commercialism.

“We can hardly stand the wait! / Please Christmas, don’t be late.” Most of you can hear the song in your head immediately, can’t you? Those squeaky, aggravating chipmunk voices singing the Christmas song we all love to hate. The song is a trite (and annoyingly persistent!) example of secular culture’s approach to Christmas commercialism.

The school years may predispose many to think of testing as a scary prospect. While in school, I had a recurring dream that the instructor handed out tests the first day of class, and the terror of not knowing any of the answers haunted me through the night. 

But here in Genesis, we see a different kind of test. God had confidence in Abraham. He knew the faith that Abraham possessed. It was time for Abraham to be proven, to fulfill his purpose. God presented him an opportunity for which he was hand-crafted to accomplish.

Superimposed over a picture of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, on the cover of the May 23, 2005, issue of Business Week magazine was the headline: "Evangelical America: Big Business. Explosive Politics." The feature article reported on the success of well-known mega churches, including Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Bill Hybel's Willow Creek Church near Chicago, and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Southern California.