michael jackson tragic life early christians and war pentecostal scholars election prayer levi o'brien jesus camp levi o'brien what happened to levi from jesus camp jesus campers levi o brien levi o'brien jesus camp levi o brien jesus camp "Levi O'Brien" jesus camp levi o brien Jesus camp kids today Levi O’Brien levi o'brien jesus levi o'brien now jesuscampers

Billy Graham and Theological Humility, Will the Next Generation Follow In His Foosteps? Every three years, young evangelists from around the world gather in Portland Oregon to attend a conference put on by the Next Generation Alliance, an organization dedicated to mentoring the next generation of global gospel preachers. While I'm... ( added 5 days 2 hours ago.)

The ACLJ and Israeli war crimes, who's imagining what? A few days ago I received a mass e-mail from the ACLJ. For those that don't get their daily dose of Christian talk radio, ACLJ stands for the American Center for Law and Justice. Think of the ACLJ as the conservative Yin to the liberal ACLU Yang.... ( added 31 days 19 hours ago.)

On behalf of my fellow Christians, I apologize In the Pentecostal Christian tradition, there's a practice that has gained some ground over the past few years called identificational repentance. Taken from the examples of men like Daniel and Nehemiah in the Hebrew Scriptures (also known as the... ( added 91 days 22 hours ago.)

Note To Missionary Critics. the Persecution of Christians In Mauritania Is a Human Rights Issue Mauritania is a land of striking beauty. With sand dunes lined against the sky, Bedouins riding camels in the countryside, and flying beetles that look like they come straight from the abyss of the Apocalypse; Mauritania is a land of... ( added 121 days 3 hours ago.)

A Tortured Life Cut Short--A Reflection On Michael Jackson's Tragic Life I used to draw crowds doing the moon- walk. Granted, I was five years old and the crowd was my friends and family. And my moon walk, well, let's just say that white boys can't danceat least not this white boy. I can remember watching the Thriller... ( added 129 days 8 hours ago.)

Which Should Come First, Spouse or Children? Reflections On Jon and Kate's Break-Up. First, a confession. I watched Jon and Kate Gosselin's break-up on Monday night's episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. It may have cost me my man card, but I couldn't help it. I was glued. Having seen Jon and Kate on the cover of Charisma magazine and... ( added 137 days ago.)

The Line Between Truth and Hate Speech Is Sometimes Blurry Last year in the small African country of Guinea Bissau, a blind man was brutally attacked by a group of radical Muslims inside a church building. In an undisclosed country in North Africa, three Muslim background converts to Christianity were... ( added 146 days 1 hour ago.)

Early Christians' Views On War, Power, and Politics Over the past year, I've written some things that have gotten me into trouble with a lot of religious people. One one level, I feel sorry that I have to offend so many people, especially people that I love and respect. On another level, I feel a... ( added 150 days 6 hours ago.)

Note to President Obama. For Muslims worldwide, actions speak louder than words. The world stood at attention today as President Obama gave a historic speech to the Muslim world. In mainstream U.S. media, expectations of the speech ran from highly pessimistic to cautiously optimistic. Some in the U.S. felt that the very idea... ( added 154 days 8 hours ago.)

This just in....the Iraq War Was a Holy War....According to the Pentagon!! Despite the repeated attempts of former President George W. Bush to renege on his usage of the word "crusade" to describe the Iraq War, there are some in the evangelical community who suspected all along that for Bush and his top aides, the Iraq... ( added 169 days 14 hours ago.)

Should Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan Proselytize? Blogging and me share a love/hate relationship. One the one hand, I hate writing articles because often it takes me hours of mental sparring to get to exactly what I want to say. On the other hand, I love the feeling of accomplishment after... ( added 177 days 4 hours ago.)

Intolerance Wears Many Faces These Days Last week Carrie Prejean, also known as the former Miss California, lost the Miss U.S.A. pageant because she committed the unthinkable crime--at least in Hollywood--of giving an honest answer to the politically charged topic of gay marriage. "In... ( added 196 days 9 hours ago.)

Chumming With Pentecostal Scholars As I write this post, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Eugene, Oregon waiting for the Society for Pentecostal Studies conference to start tomorrow. It's nice to have a day to myself. I'm thankful I was able to sleep in this morning, but I'm going to... ( added 225 days 2 hours ago.)

Closing Gitmo - Grace Abounds To the Chief of Torturers On the first day of the Obama administration, our newly elected president signed the order to close down Guatanamo. Scores of human rights advocates were in ecstasy. For those of us committed to peace and social justice the words Guatanamo and Abu... ( added 247 days ago.)

Now That History Has Been Made, It's Time For the Black Church To Reclaim Its Non-Violent Heritage. On behalf of white evangelical Christians everywhere, I'd like to congratulate the black church for a well-deserved victory. The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the first African American president of the United States is a watershed moment... ( added 289 days 9 hours ago.)

There's An Upside To Economic Disaster The first line in Charles Dickens classic novel A Tale of Two Cities seems appropriate for whats likely to come in the days ahead. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Unless youve been living in a cave (sorry Geico man) youve... ( added 291 days 5 hours ago.)

The World Must Act Now To Stop Genocide In Burma! Soldiers entering villages and killing people on sight. Landmines blowing pregnant women to smithereens. There's no way this is really going on. The world would never tolerate this. How come I haven't heard about this before? These were the words... ( added 296 days ago.)

Who Would Jesus Bomb? A Serious Response to the Crisis in Gaza A wise man once said, The first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. That wise man was Solomon and the saying comes from the book of Proverbs, a book respected as the Word of God by both Christians and Jews... ( added 305 days 2 hours ago.)

Why the deity of Christ matters There are many things that I love about Christmas. I love the cookies, the Christmas trees, and waking up early to open presents. I love the extra time with the extended family, seeing people that I don't normally see throughout the year. I love... ( added 319 days 5 hours ago.)

I'm a pro-life Christian. That's why I'm voting for.....?? My name is Aaron D. Taylor and I'm a pro-life Christian. You may not recognize me now, but 8 years ago I attended a Pentecostal Bible school that openly encouraged their students to fast and pray that George W. Bush would defeat Al Gore in the... ( added 1 year 4 days ago.)

There's An Upside To Economic Disaster The first line in Charles Dickens classic novel A Tale of Two Cities seems appropriate for what's likely to come in the days ahead. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Unless you've been living in a cave (sorry Geico man) you've... ( added 1 year 30 days ago.)

An Election Prayer I can remember when I was a student in Bible school, the leaders of the institute asked the students to skip at least one meal and fast and pray for 40 days that God would have his way during the 2000 election. Between George W. Bush and Al Gore... ( added 1 year 35 days ago.)

So That's Why I Can't Remember the Pastor's Sermon! Yesterday I drove back to Missouri from a week long workshop in McKinney, Texas called Simply the Story. I thought the training would be a breeze, but boy was I wrong! It turned out to be one of the most intense spiritual/mental exercises I've... ( added 1 year 38 days ago.)

Barack Obama visited my house!! The strangest thing happened the other day. I know this may sound like a stretch, but Barack Obama actually visited my family to personally elicit our support for him. Let me tell you that the experience was otherworldly. The whole time I'm... ( added 1 year 56 days ago.)

Do Christians Have a Biblical Mandate To Outlaw Abortion? My name is Aaron Taylor and I’m a pro-life Christian. What I mean by calling myself pro-life is to say that I believe life begins at conception and no human being has the right to take another life. Period. If you ask me whether I believe abortion... ( added 1 year 64 days ago.)