Last year Ben Arment blogged about the first, The Elephant Room a one day gathering of high profile and influential church leaders, who get together to discuss issues that they classify as “Elephants in the room” in the church. So I watched the clip of current and former pastors discussing...

In 1988, I had been a Christian for a couple years, when I first really read Matthew 25, “..when I was hungry you fed me, when I was naked you clothed me…” and James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in...

This is a bit self-serving, but I’m always excited to find opportunities to give to organizations or causes that give me the chance to see the fruit of my resources or efforts in a tangible way. I thought I would share with you a way that Burnsiders, should you feel so moved, can vastly impact...

When Waiting For Superman came out in the fall of 2010, I was nervous as much as I was excited. While the movie sparked a long overdue conversation about the cracks and crevices of American K-12 education, I knew it was doing so by highlighting the very school district where I teach, DC Public Schools....

“Kim, I think I feel a lump,” Bjoern said as he felt our Rottweiler’s neck.  It was a snowy January afternoon in Indiana, and we were cozily hunkered down in front of the fireplace.  Cuddling with Brigitte, the dog, my husband had discovered the tumor that would steal her away from us that April,...

I threw a little temper tantrum at Office Max about a month ago.  Standing in front of the Post-It note display, I eyed the price tag on the oddly sized pads of paper my daughter needed to take to school.  Fifteen dollars!  The price of the sticky notes was more than her crayons, colored pencils,...

artwork by He Qi The idea for this column was to draw attention to facts of which we might not be aware. Every couple of weeks, we wanted to highlight injustices with some numbers and statistics and then offer practical solutions. We simply wanted us all to become aware of both how we may inadvertently...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.     Most...

For most of my life I was disgusted by the church and its followers. Hypocritical. Self-Obsessed. Prideful. Unkind. These were the words I used to describe the church and its people. All that changed when I was twenty and read the Bible for the first time. This is what Jesus is like? Why didn’t...

by Sara Sterley My husband, a 6’7” former college basketball player, likes his meat. He typically indulges my tree hugger tendencies: he composts with the best of them, reuses everything, and even broke his back in our clay-filled backyard a few weeks ago to double the size of our organic garden....