GUEST: Pastor Randy Crowe with Island Outreach. Crowe is the former pastor of New Life Bible Church on Man-O-War Cay where he served for 12-years, and is leading a relief effort there: “Our efforts will focus on Marsh Harbor and Man-O-War Cay,” Crowe said. “There will be many trips. The first priority is to secure the houses and roofs and clear roadways while making sure everyone has food and water.”
PAUL’S MONOLOGUE: In its capacity as a religious institution, to what extent should the church be engaged with politics?
Respond and Engage! TALK TO PAUL ON-AIR: 313.272.5600
From Pretzels to Purpose: Overcome Pain, Blame, and Shame through a New Kind of Confession
Anne Beiler
Today’s Guest: Auntie Anne Beiler is a speaker, author, and entrepreneur that inspires audiences with her authentic stories about nearly losing everything, finding purpose in the pain, and rising to a new level of success. Anne Beiler began twisting pretzels in 1987 to support her family and grew a single farmer’s market stand into Auntie Anne’s Inc., the world’s largest hand-rolled soft pretzel franchise. Her professional success, however, was forged after years of darkness, depression, and despair brought on by the death of her nineteen-month-old daughter.
GUEST: Veteran educator and religious columnist Dr. Judy Knotts collects stories drawn from her interactions with members of an urban homeless community in Texas.
Dr. Knotts became deeply familiar with the members of this community in 2003, after she participated in a 72-hour, total-immersion “Street Retreat”–an experience spearheaded by a local food-truck homeless-outreach group called Mobile Loaves & Fishes. The author was initially unaware of the squalid conditions, hunger, and desperation that people living on the streets experienced, but her eyes were opened after she spent three days and nights without food or shelter herself. She was immediately inspired to learn more about Austin’s homeless people and to work toward potential solutions for their enduring plight.
Her professional career has centered on education as a consultant to schools, school head, and writer. She is interested in how human beings develop and become who they are. Dr. Knotts’ journey into the homeless world began when she was in her sixties and continues into her seventies.
Did You Enjoy Your Sabbath Break for Labor Day?
Most Americans had a day off from the ordinary routine of labor as we observed the Labor Day holiday. What can we learn from these kinds of scheduled annual observances about the significance of weekly Sabbath rest? Paul offers his perspective on what he calls “the Sabbath Frame of Mind,” and its importance to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being – and most fundamentally, our relationship with the God who created us for work. And rest.
A new two-part study published in Christian Higher Education shows how common it is for students at evangelical colleges and universities to struggle with their faith. In fact, they are more likely to feel unsettled about spiritual matters, unsure of their beliefs, disillusioned with their religious upbringing, distant from God, or angry with God than their peers at secular schools as well as those at mainline Protestant and Catholic institutions.
“The sanctions to discourage bad behavior show how deep the techniques of control can be in a modern totalitarian state. People with low social-credit scores are publicly shamed. Their internet speeds are reduced; they’re denied good jobs and banned from air or train travel. Their children are kept out of prestigious schools, and even their pets can be taken from them. The ultimate goal is to create a wholly docile and submissive citizenry.”
“The agency plans to use biometrics to identify 97% of travelers flying out of the country by 2022. Last year, TSA performed an initial proof of concept, capturing real-time facial images from biometric-enabled automated electronic security gates to passengers’ e-Passports at the Los Angeles International Airport.”
The Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) has changed its position on end times doctrine. The denomination recently voted to drop the word “premillennial” from its statement of faith.
“If you hit the mute button, the administration is doing a great job in many areas. Reforming our immigration system to reward work and discourage dependency; taking on China’s predatory trade practices; standing up for Israel and against anti-Semites are all good policies. But when the sound comes on, the chaos and lack of discipline drown it all out.”
More than 6,800 religious buildings have sold in the past five years and more than 1,400 are currently for sale in the U.S., according to the commercial real estate database CoStar. Some will be sold to other congregations, while others will become something entirely different — like a nun-themed coffee shop.
Dr. Robert Simons
GUEST: Dr. Robert A. Simons is a Professor and former director of the Master of Urban Planning, Design and Development program at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Simons received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in City and Regional Planning, with an emphasis in real estate. He also holds a Master of Regional Planning and a Master of Science in Economics, both from U.N.C. His undergraduate degree in anthropology was earned at Colorado State University. He has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1983.
When the congregants took their seats at this small jewel-like church on recent Sunday morning, they saw neither a cross nor a Bible. Instead, a DJ occupied the altar, sitting in front of a controller and a laptop.
As the service began, the emcee — not a clergyperson — prompted visitors to take three deep breaths and exhale. A hip-hop artist grabbed the mic to rap a song called “I Believe in You.” After him, a local poet and recording artist spent 20 minutes reading from his poems — each prefaced with a biblical quote.
The monthly service at North Star Church of the Arts is the latest venture by one of Durham’s most acclaimed residents, architect Phil Freelon, before he died last month, and his wife, singer, jazz vocalist and composer Nnenna Freelon.
The couple bought a small Greek Revival-style church in a section near a downtown neighborhood once mostly African American but now fast transitioning into an entertainment hub and refashioned it as a venue for artistic and spiritual exploration.
It’s not a stretch to say that the political structures and assumptions of the last four decades in the U.S. are headed toward implosion. The two parties are not only ideologically incoherent; they are bleeding membership. According to Gallup, 46 percent now no longer identify as either Democrats or Republicans. This is the highest number in the history of the poll. Signaling the future, a stunning 71 percent of millennials say that a third major party is needed.
But even if both major parties were not on their way out, there would still be good reasons to reject both as standing for profound evil. The Republican Party leadership thwarts attempts to save the world from global climate change and erases thousands of inconvenient vulnerable immigrants from moral and legal concern. The Democratic Party leadership turns religious freedom into a euphemism for discrimination against LGBT persons and erases millions of inconvenient vulnerable prenatal children from moral and legal concern.
Dr. Charles Camosy
GUEST: Charlie Camosy is Associate Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University, where he has taught since finishing his PhD in theology at Notre Dame in 2008. He is the author of the recently released Resisting Throwaway Culture.
Views varied sharply by age. Among people 55 and older, for example, nearly 80% said patriotism was very important, compared with 42% of those ages 18-38—the millennial generation and older members of Gen-Z. Two-thirds of the older group cited religion as very important, compared with fewer than one-third of the younger group.
“There’s an emerging America where issues like children, religion and patriotism are far less important. And in America, it’s the emerging generation that calls the shots about where the country is headed,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt.
Birth rates are falling for nearly all age groups of women under 35, and fertility in America is at a 32-year low. Some are blaming millennials, who are putting off having kids due to staggering debt and a focus on career.
TODAY: Republican women open up about the party’s future
“If you hit the mute button, the administration is doing a great job in many areas. Reforming our immigration system to reward work and discourage dependency; taking on China’s predatory trade practices; standing up for Israel and against anti-Semites are all good policies. But when the sound comes on, the chaos and lack of discipline drown it all out.”
