March 13, 2015
by Rose Khouri As a Lebanese-American with an interest in religious studies who has lived a substantial amount of time in both countries, I am often struck by the similarities and differences between two groups who supposedly practice the same religion. If asked, both American Christians (historically white and Protestant) […]
March 6, 2015
By Mike Kuhn Recently our community had the privilege of hearing a lecture by New Testament scholar David deSilva based on his book on John’s Apocalypse titled Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation’s Warning. The thrust of the lecture was a challenge to read John’s apocalyptic message in light of events transpiring […]
February 20, 2015
By Martin Accad Every few days, we seem to wake up to another massacre committed by ISIS. And these are, of course, only the ones that the media reports. ISIS, in reality, is committing massacres on a daily basis. We have become familiar with their crimes in Syria and Iraq […]
February 5, 2015
By Arthur Brown Food and youth work have always gone hand in hand. While it is true that ‘pizza night’ generally attracts more young people than a discussion on the doctrine of the trinity, good youth workers recognise the significance of young [and old] persons eating together. I was recently […]
January 22, 2015
By Mike Kuhn Never ask a fish “how’s the water?” I know…fish don’t talk so they can’t respond. But the point is that water is the environment the fish lives in and therefore the fish takes it for granted—true of fish and water but also true of people and culture. […]
January 9, 2015
By Martin Accad Addressing the question of reform and renewal in Islam at MPAC’s 2014 general convention last month, the late Dr. Maher Hathout who passed away a few days ago on January 3rd compared Islam to a diamond. He confessed that this diamond had gathered much dust over the […]
December 18, 2014
By Ashley Wollam* “But where will I get food for my children? What can we do?” It was one of the few moments I was glad that my Arabic is still far from fluent. One of my Lebanese brothers or sisters on the ministry team would have to find the […]
November 13, 2014
by Martin Accad The Middle East is in turmoil! That’s a bit of an understatement. Are you feeling frustrated and helpless about it? This has been an ongoing feeling for me since ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) hit the headlines and invaded our private imaginations relentlessly through […]