Family | Explorations Media

Q & A: John Piper on Racism, Reconciliation, and Theology after Trayvon Martin’s Death @ChristianityToday

John Piper was one of the first and the few white evangelical pastors to make a public statement on the controversial shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Not only is his passion for racial reconciliation informed by his self-proclaimed history as a Southern racist; it also fueled by his experience as the father of an adopted African American teen daughter. Piper is the author of Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian, a book that inspired a public discussion about Race and the Christian at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in New York City Wednesday night. The Minneapolis, Minnesota, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church was joined onstage by New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church pastor Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley, a theology professor from the King’s College in New York City. Christianity Today spoke with Piper on Thursday about various kinds of reconciliation, including what it would mean to reconcile with someone like author Rob Bell. …

Read the interview at Christianity Today.

Posted on March 31, 2012 by cascheller

Blogging, Books, Christianity, Christianity Today, church life, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Leadership, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Blogging, Books, Christianity, Christianity Today, church life, Community, Culture, Dr. Anthony Bradley, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, John Piper, Leadership, Public Square, Race, Race and the Christian, Racial Reconciliation, Redemption, Reformed theology, Rob Bell, Social Action, Theology, Tim Keller, transracial adoption, Trayvon Martin, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Religion + Life with Elaine H. Ecklund, Part 1 @TheHighCalling

“Social scientists are always thinking of big theoretical projects. As a social scientist, I’m very interested in how individuals who are different from the institutions that constrain them bring change to those institutions.” That’s how Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow Elaine Howard Ecklund described the underlying theme of her work in a recent interview with The High Calling.

Ecklund’s research thus far has focused on the often contentious areas of religion, immigration, science, and culture. Her 2010 book, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think, for example, confronted the popular notion that scientists are antagonistic to religion. We’ll study its content in three upcoming articles. …

Read the whole introduction at The High Calling.

Posted on March 18, 2012 by cascheller

Bioethics, Books, Christianity, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Leadership, Medicine, Philosophy, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Bioethics, Books, Christianity, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Karl Ecklundelaine howard ecklundHoustonImmigrant ReligionimmigrationKorean American Evangelicals: New Models for Civic LifeLaity Leadership InstituteLarge Haldron Collider CERN expirementMedicinepedi, Leadership, Medicine, Philosophy, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, The High Calling, TheHighCalling, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

An Ode to the Jersey Shore @NJShorePatch

The most beautiful place I’ve ever been is the top of a mountain in the Austrian Alps. It was Easter Sunday 2001 after a rain storm. A group of us were in Austria for 18 days doing construction work on a church in the valley below and took a windy drive up, up, and up into the sky to have lunch at a country inn that rightfully belonged in a fairytale.

We were literally enveloped by clouds. I felt as if I could reach out and touch heaven with my hand. The physical and metaphysical worlds merged to a degree that I’ve never experienced before or since. Perhaps it was the altitude.

Men were dressed in lederhosen and women in colorful dirndls. There was homemade cheese, speck, and plenty of beer. Way too much beer for the Austrians. One man fell off his bar stool, hit the stone floor with a frightening thud, and was up drinking again before we fully comprehended what had happened. Our group was teetotaling, so we simply drank in the moist, clean air and the breathtaking sights. Those were intoxicating enough. It was the kind of place about which tourists say, “I could live here.”

I’m not sure I said that, but I did inhabit the moment, as I have many others like it when I’ve immersed myself in the particular beauty of a place. Whether I’ve been in Paris, or on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, or in the hill countries north of San Diego or San Antonio, I’ve given myself over to the charms inherent in every bit of earth I’ve traversed.

And each time I’ve come home to the Jersey Shore knowing more deeply than before that I am of this place. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

Posted on March 4, 2012 by cascheller

About the Explorer, Community, Culture, Family, Food, Friendship, Gabriel Gifford Scheller, grief, Redemption, Travel, Walkin' the Talk

Christine A. Scheller, Community, Culture, Family, Food, Friendship, Gabriel Gifford Scheller, grief, Home, Jersey Shore, NJ Shore Patch, Redemption, Travel, Walkin' the Talk

Taking Aim at Technology Instead of the Problem @TheHighCalling

What would you do if your teenager posted a note on Facebook essentially calling you a tyrant and saying she’s tired of being your slave? I would be horrified, but since my children were grown before the advent of social media, I really can’t say for sure. One North Carolina dad who faced this situation chose an act of dramatic retaliation that got the attention of more than 28 million people. Tommy Jordan is an internet technology professional who discovered a profanity-laden note posted on his 16-year-old daughter’s facebook page, in which she complained about onerous chores like sweeping and making beds. Because it was her second social media offense, he got so mad that he video-taped himself reading her note aloud and ranting about it. He then shot her laptop with hollow-point bullets and said that if she wants another one, she’ll have to buy it herself. Jordan uploaded this video to YouTube and has since become famous, or infamous, (depending on one’s perspective) for his foray into what some would call “extreme parenting.”

The High Calling talked to Laity Leadership Institute senior fellow and child psychiatrist Allan Josephson, M.D. about the video. Josephson said the reason it has gone viral is because it taps into the frustrations many families in our culture feel. The immediacy of social media is a problem, but the underlying one is more fundamental. …

Read the rest at TheHighCalling.org.

Image by Jenny Huey. Sourced via Wikimedia Commons.

Posted on February 25, 2012 by cascheller

Blogging, Culture, Ethics, Family, Leadership, Psychology, Public Square, Redemption, Technology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

All Josephson, anger, Blogging, Culture, Ethics, facebook, Family, Leadership, M.D., parenting, Privacy, Psychology, Public Square, Redemption, social media, Technology, TheHighCalling, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Photojournalism from Whitney Houston’s Home-going Service

Whitney Houston funeral guest showing program to journalists (photo by Christine A. Scheller)

For more photos from Whitney Houston’s Homegoing Service, click here.

Trying to Get the Money Shot at Whitney Houston's funeral (photo by Christine A. Scheller).

Trying to Get the Money Shot at Whitney Houston’s funeral (photo by Christine A. Scheller).

Posted on February 19, 2012 by cascheller

Art, Beauty, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, Journalism, Public Square, Redemption, Theology, Travel, Vocation

Art, Beauty, Celebrity, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Fame, Family, Friendship, grief, Journalism, Journalists, Paparazzi, Privacy, Public Square, Redemption, Theology, Travel, UrbanFaith, Vocation, Whitney Houston Funeral

What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: February 13 – February 17

On Location at Whitney’s Farewell: What reporting on location at Whitney Houston’s semi-private, gospel-filled funeral taught me about spiritual battles, grace, and celebrity.
Marriage Is for Black People, Too: Ralph Richards Banks’ book ‘Is Marriage for White People?’ made him the target of angry critics. Now, the author has his say about interracial dating, the link between fewer marriages and the crisis in black communities, and his take on conservative scholar Charles Murray’s latest book on class and race.
Obama Birth Control Compromise Take 2: Activist Lisa Sharon Harper and ethicists Cheryl J. Sanders and Charles C. Camosy weigh in on the Obama administration’s contraception mandate accommodation.

Posted on February 19, 2012 by cascheller

Art, Bioethics, Books, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Journalism, Leadership, Medicine, Philosophy, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Science, Social Action, Technology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Art, Bioethics, Books, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Entertainment, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, Health Care Reform, History, Is Marriage for White People? Ralph Richard Banks, Journalism, Leadership, Medicine, Obama Contraception compromise, Philosophy, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Science, Social Action, Technology, Theology, UrbanFaith, UrbanFaith.com, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk, Whitney Houston Funeral

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 6: Holistic Mental Health @TheHighCalling

When my son first began exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression as a sophomore in high school, my husband and I both worked at a California mega-church whose leaders openly preached against psychiatry and psychology.

The message reached a wide audience— from the pulpit, over radio, through books, and at conferences—thus cementing in place a culture in which getting professional help for mental and emotional suffering was discouraged and stigmatized.

This was a new phenomenon for us, one that may have delayed our son getting the help he needed. After I heard about the third suicide of a young Christian that I knew back home in New Jersey, however, I no longer cared what my church community thought. I knew my son needed help and was determined to get it for him.

Nonetheless, I was concerned that the mental health practitioners who treated him would respect his tender faith and the spiritual dimension of his suffering, some of which was directly related to our family’s decision to respond to a vocational ministry calling with a cross-country move and to the culture of the church where that calling was initially lived out. …

Read the whole article at TheHighCalling.org.

Posted on February 4, 2012 by cascheller

Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Leadership, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Redemption, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Aging, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Dan Blazer M.D., Depression, Faith, Family, Freud vs. God, Geriatric Psychiatry, Health, Leadership, Medicine, mental illness, Psychiatry, Psychology, Redemption, TheHighCalling, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

A Quarter Century of Jersey Shore HIV/AIDS Response @NJShorePatch

Tyler Alyxander and Ina Kaplan at "A Night of Illusion" fundraiser.

I well remember when the thought that I could have AIDS first occurred to me. It was 1986 and I was newly married. I had gotten pregnant by an East African man two years earlier and my husband had fallen in love with both me and my baby.

All seemed well, until I began paying attention to the news that AIDS had first appeared in sub-saharan Africa among heterosexuals. I dutifully got tested, then waited anxiously for the phone call that told me I was not infected.

Other people I knew heard different news. There were whispers that a high school classmate who had been an intravenous drug user and died of a drug overdose had taken his own life after getting the diagnosis.

It was a scary time, especially for anyone who had been anything but virginal. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

Posted on January 31, 2012 by cascheller

church life, Community, Culture, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Food, grief, Leadership, Medicine, Public Square, Redemption, Science, Social Action, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

anti-retroviral drugs, Beacon Light Fund, church life, Community, Culture, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Food, grief, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, housing, Leadership, Medicine, Miss Gay New Jersey, NJ Shore Patch, Public Square, recession, Redemption, Science, Social Action, The Center Asbury Park, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 5: Social Supports & Storytelling @TheHighCalling

Stories help us make sense of the world. True stories told by our elderly relatives help us understand ourselves, and the telling also helps the storytellers make sense of their lives, says Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow Dan Blazer, M.D.

“One of the most critical things a family can do is to try to recognize the value of an older person, and one of the best ways to do that is to get the older person to talk about himself or herself, or maybe write about himself or herself. Then actually pay attention to what they write,” Blazer said when The High Calling talked to him recently. …

Read the whole article at TheHighCalling.org.

Posted on January 29, 2012 by cascheller

church life, Community, Faith, Family, Friendship, Leadership, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Redemption, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Aging, church life, Community, Dan Blazer M.D., Faith, Family, Friendship, Geriatric Psychiatry, Health, Leadership, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Redemption, social supports, storytelling, TheHighCalling, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: January 9-13

Religion Wins Big; Pastors Protest Loss: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious schools can fire ministers and more New York City pastors were arrested while protesting fallout from the court’s decision not to hear a Bronx church’s appeal.
Politics Are Personal: In her new book ‘Left, Right, and Christ,’ Lisa Sharon Harper models a civil and redemptive discussion of divisive political issues. She spoke to UrbanFaith about Christians in the public square, and the dangers of winning political and religious debates but missing the truth.
Pastors Protest School Worship Ban: Some New York City pastors are protesting the Board of Education’s ban on worship in public school space as the ban threatens to spread beyond schools.

Posted on January 15, 2012 by cascheller

Capitalism, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Leadership, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Bronx Household of Faith vs. New York Board of Education, Capitalism, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, Hannah Tabor case, History, Leadership, Left Right & Chris, Lisa Sharon Harper, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, Theology, U.S. Supreme Court, UrbanFaith, UrbanFaith.com, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Lifelong Ocean Grove Resident Takes Helm of Camp Meeting Association @NJShorePatch

Dr. Dale C. Whilden succeeds Scott Rasmussen (who ended his six-year term in mid-October) as president of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Whilden is a life-long Ocean Grove resident. He has served as an OGCMA Trustee since 1983 and has chaired both the Development and Program committees. Patch Faith & Family columnist Christine A. Scheller interviewed Whilden about his new role.

Christine A. Scheller: How did you come to be involved with the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA)?

Dr. Dale C. Whilden: I came to Ocean Grove when I was three days old right from the hospital. My parents had purchased a home here back in the mid-1940s. In the early 50s when I was born, we lived here year round for a number of years. Dad was principal of the school here in town, then we had to move to Toms River based on a new job he had as county superintendent of schools. We kept our little summer house here, and so for my entire life I’ve been coming to Ocean Grove every summer. Growing up through the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting programs, the childrens’ programs, the youth programs, Bible studies, beach activities, and choral and dramatic events, all those things over the years has led me to a sense of how important OGCMA has been in my life and in our family’s life as well. That history has certainly been a factor in my wanting to be involved.

Then when I graduated from dental school and did a residency at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, I couldn’t imagine not opening my dental practice in Ocean Grove. All those years growing up, it was sort of my Shangri La. I’d go to school in Toms River and we’d be there all winter, and then come summer time, this was the place. This was the epitome of my dream escape and it’s worked out very, very well. I think it gives me a good sense of the community and the history of the community. …

Read the whole interview at Manasquan Patch.

Posted on December 20, 2011 by cascheller

Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Leadership, Medicine, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Dale C. Whilden, Democracy, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Leadership, Medicine, NJ Shore Patch, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Technology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 2: Successful Aging @TheHighCalling

In his 2002 book, Depression in Late Life, Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow Dan Blazer, M.D. retells a story from the life of Siddhārtha, who would come to be known as the Supreme Buddha. The young prince left his palace one day and came across a “tottering, wrinkled, white-haired, decrepit old man who was bent over, trembling, and mumbling something incomprensible while he tottered along, balanced by a stick he used for a cane.” Seeing this sight, Siddhārtha is said have told his chariot driver, “It’s the world’s pity, that weak and ignorant beings, drunk with the vanity of youth, do not behold old age. Let us hurry back to the palace. What is the use of pleasures in life, since I myself am the future dwelling-place of old age?”

The perception of old age as a depressing season of life, however, is not confirmed in scientific studies of the elderly, Blazer concluded. …

Read the whole article at The High Calling.

Posted on December 17, 2011 by cascheller

Community, Faith, Family, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Aging, Community, Dan Blazer M.D., Depression, Faith, Family, Geriatric Psychiatry, Health, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, retirement, TheHighCalling, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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An Ode to the Jersey Shore @NJShorePatch

Photojournalism from Whitney Houston’s Home-going Service

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 6: Holistic Mental Health @TheHighCalling

Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer, Part 2: Successful Aging @TheHighCalling

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