Published on June 21, 2019  

Charleston Church Shooting and What Forgiveness Can Offer a City, a Nation by Anthony Thompson and Denise George

My forgiveness did nothing for Dylann Roof, who later claimed he was not sorry for the deaths he caused, and did not regret what he had done. He held onto his anger and his hatred for black people. He now lives inside a closet-size cell at the U.S. federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, awaiting his execution.

But my forgiveness of the unrepentant young racist changed me. I refused to harbor the anger, hatred, and other negative emotions of un-forgiveness, refusing to allow it to rob me of my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.

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The Bonhoeffer that History Overlooked by James R. Edwards

Lohmeyer opposed authoritarian Nazi ideology, especially its fanatical anti-Semitism. He affiliated with the Confessing Church, a branch of the German Protestant Church that resisted the annexation of the church by the state. Through it all, he held steadfastly to his vocation as a biblical theologian. He wrote voluminously in his academic life—a dozen scholarly books, half again that number of scholarly articles, and nearly 50 reviews of prominent books—but also in works closer to his soul, in sermons, correspondence with intellectual luminaries of the day, and letters to his wife during nine and a half years of service in World Wars I and II. His character and brilliance resulted in his being named president of not one but two German universities.

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The Two Best Introductions for Christians Studying History: a Joint Interview with Nathan Finn and Robert Tracy McKenzie

Christianity is a historical faith in a way that isn’t true of every religion. Christianity is grounded in biblical events that Christians believe were real historical occurrences. The truthfulness of Christianity depends upon the historical validity of the events recorded in the Bible.

Also, Christians believe that God is sovereign over all things—past, present, and future. The more we understand the past (even the mundane past), the better we are able to discern how God has been at work and might be at work today, for his glory and our good.

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My Funeral Fumble: a Pastors' Nightmare Comes True by Wyman Richardson

It remains the most humiliating moment of my pastoral life. I can now laugh about it a little these few years after the incident, but I still wake up with a start sometimes and feel the cold chill of disbelief and embarrassment creep over me. I cringe even as I type. Whenever I hear pastors speak regretfully of their ministerial foibles I think, “Should I tell the story? It will certainly help this poor soul feel better if I do.” Increasingly, I do tell the story, and I will do so now.

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