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Volume 16, Issue 4

Starting Over

Cover Stories

Keep Pressing Play
By Rev. Candace Chellew
When we keep pressing play we keep giving ourselves permission to hope, permission to look forward to what the new day holds. When we keep pressing play, we open ourselves to the Holy mystery that constantly occurs in, through and around us.

Everything Old Is New Again (Or Is It the Other Way Around?)
By Lori Heine
May we all go forth into this New Year with at least one resolution: to make peace.

New Beginnings
By Rev. Suzie Chamness
Every day is a chance to start over, to be made new and fresh.

One Day at a Time
By John H. Campbell
While others elect to celebrate the transformation of the old year into the new, I will continue to view every day as a fresh and clean start, a new beginning, a blank canvas from God to work with.

Sing of Renewal
By Simyona Deanova
I pray for God to break me apart completely and rebuild me again. To destroy the used up vessel and make a new one from the same material.

Features

Ten Reasons to Own Your Faith
By Rev. Paul M. Turner
For far too long the institutional church has taken the position they own the faith and simply rent it to us.

When It Comes to Religion, Let’s Keep One Resolution
By Dr. Robert N. Minor
This year, let’s keep one resolution – when we talk about religious people, let’s never again refer to them as literalists. That’s because they aren’t, and no one is.

Let No One Put Asunder
By Warren J. Blumenfeld
Maybe we need to follow a “Platinum Rule,” whereby we treat others how they want to be treated. We consider their needs, their best interests, their values and beliefs, even if these do not necessarily connect or bond with our own.

The Ignorant Attempt to “Transform” Gay People
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
For those who believe in “transforming” Gay people into something other than the way they were created to be by God is to show a decided lack of faith in God.

Christian Spin on ‘Ex-Gay’ Study Creates Harm
By Anthony Venn-Brown
The thing that concerns me the most about conservative Christian groups like the Salt Shakers making false claims that homosexuality can be cured is the impact this has on individuals and families. If you are in an anti-gay conservative Christian culture there is a dearth of ignorance about sexuality and enormous pressures to conform.

From the Pulpit

From Jailbird to Freebird: The Prison of Judgement
By Rev. Candace Chellew
We are all at this banquet of life together. The person next to you may look suspicious and have bad table manners, but you still have no reason to judge them, because God has no reason to judge them.

From Jailbird to Freebird: The Prison of Predictability
By Rev. Candace Chellew
When we spring ourselves from the prison of predictability and allow life to knock us off the path from time to time, we begin to understand what is truly valuable in this world — the compassion of strangers — which grows in us the ability to offer compassion to the strangers we meet.

From Jailbird to Freebird: The Prison of Popularity
By Rev. Candace Chellew
What drives this population explosion in the prison of popularity? Fear. There is an overriding fear that perhaps our lives won’t mean anything on this planet unless some people — and perhaps a large number of some people — notice us.

From Jailbird to Freebird: The Prison of Procrastination
By Rev. Candace Chellew
How would it change your life if instead of taking time for granted, you started to see it as a gift?

Holy Humor

Sunday School Wisdom

Money Talks