February 14, 2019

Lebanon Turns 100: Let’s Offer it the Gift of Unity

by Chaden Hani In 1918, Lebanon was liberated after four centuries of Ottoman hegemony following the empire’s collapse at the end of the First World War. The Lebanese nationalists felt that it was time for them to materialize their grand dream of establishing Greater Lebanon. The Administrative Council of Mount […]
November 29, 2018

The Church-Mosque Network as an Expression of the Incarnation: A Message for Advent

By Martin Accad Two sheikhs, three priests, and an evangelical theologian walk out of a mosque in the warm breeze of a late afternoon in June. Cars slow down and stare at the unlikely crew, as they move slowly beneath the elegant spire of the Aisha Bint Abi Bakr mosque […]
October 11, 2018

The Courage to Love

By Chaden Hani “The courage to love” was an expression I first heard from an active Lebanese politician considered to be the godfather of Christian reconciliation, who helped reconcile two major political parties in the country. He also said that our only hope is for the church to rise. Armed, […]
July 19, 2018

Rejecting Imperial Religion: baptistic Reflections from a Non-Baptist

By Jesse Wheeler If the Turk comes, he should not be resisted, for it stands written: “thou shalt not kill” (Matt 5:21). We should not defend ourselves against the Turks or our other persecutors, but with reverent prayer should implore God that he might be our defense and our resistance […]
March 29, 2018

Peacebuilding Through Music: A Language that has the Potential to Assuage Bitterness and Grief and Open Up Hardened Hearts بناء السلام من خلال الموسيقى: لغة لديها القدرة أن تسكّن المرارة والحزن، وتفتح القلوب القاسية

By Raffi Chilingirian “What you played inside was so beautiful,” an elder in my church told me, making sure that I heard his assuring words before my departure. I’ve been playing the Armenian Duduk, an ancient instrument found by various names in the Caucasus, during prayer sessions within my church’s Sunday services. […]
March 15, 2018

Reflections from a Social Psychologist تأملات من وجهة نظر علم النفس الاجتماعي

(Photo: Murr Tower, used by militia fighters from various factions during the Lebanese Civil War) by Thia M. Sagherian-Dickey “Why are you asking us Christians about Shias? We don’t have a problem with them. The tensions are between Sunnis and Shias. You should be asking them such questions.” I was […]
July 20, 2017

Reflections on Fear and Faith

By Arthur Brown “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the […]
June 22, 2017

Acceptance of the Other: How Interfaith Dialogue Has Helped One Community Come to Life Again

By Kathryn Kraft When she stood up from the little stool on which she had been perched throughout our interview, I saw that she was indeed pregnant. I’d guess about seven months. But, I thought, she already had seven children, a sunken eye, and a lost home! I wondered if […]