Chicago Christianity Examiner

A new look at an old catechism

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:38:33 -0700

The last command Jesus gave his apostles was to go out into the world and teach the gospel of God’s redemptive love. And so, in obedience to this command we dispatch missionaries to all parts of the earth, often to places hostile to the C...

Did God march in the gay pride parade?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:49:20 -0700

Last Sunday, June 28, Chicago’s 40th annual Gay Pride Parade stepped off at Belmont and Halstead, marched north to Broadway, then took a sharp turn south, and ended up on Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park. That’s a long walk, but probabl...

Michael Jackson is dead

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:10:30 -0700

Michael Jackson is dead. He was one of five celebrities who, over the span of a single week, has just passed away: Farrah Fawcett, John Callaway (an iconic broadcast journalist here in Chicago), television pitchman, Billy May, Ed McMahon, and Jackson...

Where have all the churches gone?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:17:09 -0700

It’s expensive to build a church these days, even more so if you want to put a little bit of architectural flair into the construction. New churches today tend to be squared off, sharp-edged, single-storied, and horizontal. Mega-churches (ugh) ...

Planned Parenthood in Aurora: aftermath

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:08:43 -0700

PHOTO: FVFAPPIt seems almost as if it were yesterday. A new Planned Parenthood facility opened Oct. 7, 2007 amid the tumult and shouting of protestor rallies, supporter counter-rallies, prayer vigils, and legal positioning. Those were turbulent days ...

Christians, atheists, and public education

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:30:40 -0700

I got tired of the “Atheism On a Bus” title for these articles, ergo the change. I need to remind readers, however, that this extended discussion of atheism and Christianity began as a commentary on signs placed by atheists on Chica...

Atheism on a bus (part three)

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:19:48 -0700

PHOTO: INDIANA ATHEIST BUS CAMPAIGNI didn’t plan to write a third article on the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign, but the collective response to the first two articles has taken me by surprise. In that response, a number of issues were raised, and...

Atheism on a bus (part two)

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:14:58 -0700

PHOTO: INDIANA ATHEIST BUS CAMPAIGNYesterday, in response to the ad crusade recently waged by the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign on Chicago city buses, I asked what atheism has to offer me that transcends my own self. Today, I’d like to ask a sec...

Atheism on a bus (part one)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:58:37 -0700

PHOTO: INDIANA ATHEIST BUS CAMPAIGNLate last month, a program was initiated by the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign to place large advertisements on Chicago buses that argue, “You can be good without God”, and “In the beginning, man cre...

Bible jumble solution

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:40:57 -0700

Thy word have I hid in my heart

The solution to Sunday’s Bible jumble is, “God bless Chicago”. Hope you had an enjoyable time jumbling it.

Check back for the next Bible jumble, coming soon.

Bible jumble

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:32:59 -0700

Thy word have I hid in my heartOkay, ladies and gents, let’s jumble.If you read the Chicago Tribune, you probably know that the paper has a section titled “Live!”, and that toward the back of that section is the daily crossword puzz...

Dexter's list

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:26:30 -0700

“I was hopin’ I’d find you here.” My friend Dexter plunked down on the bar stool next to me. “I got something here I wanna show you.”“Where else would I be at five o’clock on a Friday afternoon?&r...

I don't condone it, but . . .

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:18:13 -0700

On the last day of May, 2009, in Wichita, Kansas, Scott Roeder, 51, entered Reformation Lutheran Church, and shot George Tiller, 67, who, at the moment, was serving as usher. Tiller was a physician who provided late-term abortions; Roeder stood...

When is a demon not a demon?

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:15:52 -0700

DIBSBack in the dark ages, when I was a clueless undergraduate at DePaul University, my father puckishly riddled me a question for which I had no immediate answer. “Why on earth”, he asked, “did DePaul, a Roman Catholic university, ...

Requiescat in pace

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:48:20 -0700

Driscoll Catholic High School died last week. She was only 43 years old . . . much too young to die. Over those 43 years, she nourished, give or take a handful, about 5,000 kids. She educated them too, but she served those kids best as an alma ...

Jesus on Roosevelt

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:09:51 -0700

We’ve all seen them. Old, run-down storefronts, on tough streets, that once may have housed record shops, shoe repair businesses, small grocery stores, resale shops, and a thousand and one other eclectic enterprises, but are now occupied ...

Free concert scheduled at Quigley

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:35:18 -0700

ST. JAMES CHAPELThis Sunday, June 14, a free one-hour concert of beautiful Renaissance music will be performed in St. James Chapel at the Archbishop Quigley Center, located at the corner of Rush and Pearson Streets in downtown Chicago.The concert wil...

The windows of St. James

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:34:53 -0700

ST. JAMES CHAPELIn 1905, Chicago Archbishop James E. Quigley established a preparatory high school seminary for boys on the near north side of Chicago. The school, named Cathedral College of the Sacred Heart, was, for Archbishop Quigley, a good start...