Leaving Religion, Following Jesus - Ronnie McBrayer on SBE

Erik Guzman February 26th, 2010

Ronnie McBrayer was born and raised in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains, and he says he barely survived his fire-and-brimstone, fundamentalist upbringing. Join Ronnie on this edition of Steve Brown Etc. as he talks about being a pastor, running from the church and his journey back.

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Ronnie McBrayer writes a popular weekly newspaper column called Keeping the Faith, and his latest book is … (Read More)

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Jesus Freak - Sara Miles on SBE

Erik Guzman February 19th, 2010

Sara Miles is a self-described "free-range Christian." She's a former atheist who experienced a radical conversion, so she didn't grow up in church bored by sermons. As a result, she really believes that "this thing is real." Her new book is Jesus Freak: Feeding, Healing, Raising the Dead.

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Join Sara on Steve Brown Etc. as we set aside the arguments among Christians a … (Read More)

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Here Is the Church, There is the Steeple, Open the Door and See All the People

John H. Armstrong February 15th, 2010

As a small child there was a quaint little saying that was common. We folded out hands and said, "Here is the church." We then put our two index fingers together and said, "There is the steeple." Then we turned our hands over and wiggled our fingers and said, "Open the door and see all the people." I know, it's dumb, really dumb. But I do remember it. There was one thing we felt really good about, back in the 1950s and 60s. The church was full of people. Some t … (Read More)

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What Has Happened to Evangelicalism in America?

John H. Armstrong January 5th, 2010

The famous historian of theology, H. Richard Niebuhr, once called theological liberalism a religion devoted to "a God without wrath [who] brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross" [The Kingdom of God in America, (The Wesleyan University Press, orig. 1937; 1988), p. 193].

I can’t think of a statement that better sums up much of the problem inside the church in our time. Where once liberal theology ravaged the older c … (Read More)

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Jumping through Fires - David Nasser on SBE

Erik Guzman December 18th, 2009

Jumping through fires, or Chaharshanbe Suri, is a 3,000 year-old tradition of celebrating the Persian New Year. By jumping through the fire, always while holding someone's hand, all bad things from the previous year are burned away and replaced with new beginnings.

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David Nasser is an Iranian exile and former Muslim, and he has jumped through his share of fires. Join David on Steve Brown Etc … (Read More)

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It really is going to be okay!

Steve Brown December 14th, 2009

I'm writing this from the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in the mountains of North Carolina. I'm at this wonderful conference center teaching two seminars-one for pastors/leaders and the other for "normal" people.

They house the speakers in log cabins (there are three or four of them) up on a mountain overlooking the natural cove while the people who come to the conferences stay at two fairly large and nice hotels. The log cabins are closed except to authorized pers … (Read More)

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