Highlights of links to online news and opinion pieces from May 2018.

Are we failing at Jesus' serpent and dove philosophy? In the same-sex marriage debate, we have been sucked in by either power or heat. Wisdom and gentleness are relegated to a back seat. But Jesus calls us to think and vote as he would: in Grace and Truth. As we accept Truth, Grace sets us free.

Rather than condemn religion itself, or even male-dominated systems, this series highlights the power that women of faith have to influence their environment. It encourages us to use that power for good, like the rabbi who blesses the unwomen, and not for harm, like the hard-hearted Gilead matriarchs.

In season 2, The Handmaids Tale examines prayer in a depth often missing from Christian discussions of the topic. Real prayer has been contrasted with unprayer. Prayers we want answered seem almost mocked by God. Yet the object of prayer, Jesus, is remarkable in his absence from Gilead.

Sabbath Time is not a recipe book about ‘how to get the most you can from God during a Sabbath rest’. It offers an honest and vulnerable witness to Ringma’s experience as he openhandedly wrestles with God, finds peace, is disturbed, encounters more unanswerable questions and, finally, wonders about how he can live out a daily ‘hermitage of the heart’ after his return.

Highlights of links to online news and opinion pieces from April 2018.

Highlights of links to online news and opinion pieces from March 2018.

Evangelism or social engagement? Drawing on his expertise in political philosophy and an analysis of the history of Evangelicalism, Will Jones takes us beyond an either-or approach, arguing that the two form ‘a single mission which involve and interpenetrate one another’. This booklet is a call to integrate the inseparable.

What is the role of the church in a world ‘starving to death’ for the beauty of the reign of God? Based on his research, community work and ministry experience, Van Eymeren calls on the people of God to be engaged in the community in which they are placed. The book bridges theory and practice and leads us to ask: what can I do?

Nick Spencer gives an impressive tour of important ways in which the Christian faith has shaped Western culture and values, countering the dominant secular narrative that all that we value has come about by freeing ourselves from outdated religion. On a few points, however, there may be a little more to explore.