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Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–63Taylor Branch

By far the most readable of the civil rights histories, filled with fascinating background on the African American church and Martin Luther King’s personal makeup, plus riveting storytelling. This book will keep you up at night.

Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceDavid J. Garrow

A 700-page blockbuster and Pulitzer winner that provides a comprehensive history of King and the movement he led and inspired.

Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights RevolutionDiane McWhorter

McWhorter grew up in privileged, white Birmingham, and she provides a graphic panorama of both white and black forces that grappled for power there. No book I know so expands the social, economic, and religious canvas. The book is messy but intoxicating.

The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice, from the Civil Rights Movement to TodayCharles Marsh

Marsh combines the skills of a theologian, historian, and storyteller to bring a probing and meditative description of the civil rights movement, its triumphs and failings, up to its impact on today’s social justice movements.

Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the MovementJohn Lewis and Michael D’Orso

Congressman Lewis lived every aspect of the movement: he was beaten several times, arrested more, elected and then deposed as head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, finally entering politics. This memoir is testimony to an incredible era.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Previous top 5 lists had books about social justice, church history, popular culture, the Civil War, apologetics, atheism, and sex.

Shaking the System is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

This is not a news flash, but it needs repeating: The health-care system in America is leaving out tens of millions of people, whose health and financial solvency are at grave risk. Take three examples from the news media:

• Waitress Katie Salas has worked 20 different jobs, mostly as a waitress, in the last eight years, and none of her nearly two dozen employers provided health insurance. When she was hurt in a bicycle accident, Salas went to the emergency room for care. She was told to go home and ice her bruises—and then was billed for $2,000.

• A working mom of three, Deborah Shank was left permanently brain-damaged and confined to a wheelchair after a collision with a semitrailer. After legal expenses, the court awarded her $417,000 to provide for her ongoing medical needs. But the health plan for Wal-Mart, where she worked, sued successfully for the award as reimbursement for medical expenses it had already shelled out. The fine print in her health plan made that perfectly legal.

• An oil company salesman, Jim Dawson, deathly ill with a staph infection, spent five months in intensive care. After he returned home, his hospital billed him for $1.2 million. He referred it to his insurer, who just told him they had already paid $1.5 million, Dawson’s lifetime cap, and would pay no more. (These lifetime caps have remained unchanged for 30 years.)

It’s no wonder all the presidential candidates say they have a national health-care plan.

Four Principles

This problem can no longer be a back-burner issue for evangelicals. All through our history, Christians have been leaders in caring for the sick—in founding hospitals, clinics, and other health services. It is time to spend our energies helping create a better national health-care system.

The current health-care system is seriously flawed. The high costs shut out many people completely: More than one in six Americans remains uninsured. That’s 47 million people. This is not just a problem for the unemployed. Forty percent of the uninsured live in households that earn $50,000 a year or more. And many who are insured are still unable to pay their share of the spiraling costs of medical care.

Of course, a great deal of prudential judgment will come into play as ideas for reform develop. But we think four larger principles should characterize any strategy:

Subsidiarity. Grounded in Catholic social theory, this principle says social and political problems should be handled by smaller social units if possible—starting with families and moving up to neighborhoods, communities, and states—and a myriad of institutions in between. The closer people are to the problem, the more humane their solutions will be.

An important role of federal government, in our view, is to make room, financially and legally, for these smaller institutions to care for people at as local a level as possible. The federal government should be seen as the insurer, or health-care provider, of last resort.

Freedom of conscience. The more freedom people have to choose doctors, treatments, and payment options, the better. This is not merely a market-based value. More importantly, people must not be required to pay into an insurance plan in which their deeply held religious and moral beliefs would be violated. For example, we want to avoid a situation in which an insurance plan makes all members subsidize abortions.

Certainly no strategy that depends on pooling the money of millions will avoid every ethical conundrum. But people should have choices to keep this to a minimum.

Financial stewardship. We do not believe in health care at all costs: There is indeed a time to live and a time to die. Neither do we weigh human life and health against the calculations on a spreadsheet: Every human life, created and loved by God, is of inestimable value. As the longevity of Americans rises—and with it, the costs of caring for the elderly—this tension will become increasingly acute. Still, any strategy worth supporting should hold these truths in tension.

Access of the marginalized. While a just health-care plan should work for people of every race, ethnicity, and social class, we advocate a strategy that is biased on behalf of the dispossessed. Our legal system, when it is functioning at its best, protects the rights of the innocent; we’re convinced that in the coming months and years, the President and Congress can create a national health-care strategy that will first and foremost protect the poor.

We believe that an effective and lasting health-care strategy must honor these four principles to some degree. But as with any complex public policy, Christians will disagree about their priority and implementation. That’s all to the good, as iron does sharpen iron.

For the sake of rhetorical neatness and persuasive power, some will be tempted to ground their plan primarily on frugality or on freedom or some other single-value concern. This may win support, but it will not create a balanced and measured strategy that will stand the test of time.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Other Christianity Today editorials and articles on the 2008 Presidential elections are available in our full-coverage sections.

Editor’s note: Just one week after we posted the following story, writers voted to end their strike and return to work.

Everyone in Hollywood is ready for the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) to end its lengthy, debilitating strike. The strike has brought the film and television industry to a standstill, cost thousands of jobs and over $1 billion in total economic productivity, and angered fans across the world now deprived of their favorite television shows.

But beyond the obvious, headline-grabbing impacts, there is an even greater, more crippling effect on the average person in L.A. Many people (and not just the 12,000 striking writers) are suffering financially, emotionally, even spiritually from the effects of the strike, and Hollywood Christians are responding with care and prayer.

Earlier this month, Kim Dorr, Associate Pastor for Entertainment Ministries at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, joined up with an interdenominational coalition of Los Angeles-based Christian entertainment professionals to sponsor weekly prayer and fellowship gatherings as long as the strike is going on. Dorr, who also runs the Defining Artists talent agency in Universal City, recalls that in the early days of the strike she sunk into a “sky is falling” state of panic as wide swaths of the industry were laid off and the town appeared to be shutting down. But then Dorr realized that “for such a time as this, I was ordained to minister to these people.”

Thus, along with writer/showrunner John Tinker (Judging Amy, The Practice), writer John Wierick (The Matthew Shepherd Story), writer Barbara Nicolosi, and Karen Covell (founder of Hollywood Prayer Network), Dorr made plans to create a “safe spot where the two sides could come together without demonizing the other.” The result was a series of weekly gatherings that began January 25 and will continue until the strike concludes.

Thankfully, the three-month-old strike finally does appear to be nearing an end. Dorr and others cite industry rumors that the strike will likely end before the Feb. 24 Academy Awards—very good news for a town that has suffered immensely because of it.

“Every day that goes by it gets a little worse for the people affected,” notes Dorr, adding that the dominance of the film and television industries in L.A. leaves few alternative job choices for the thousands now out of work. “People are grasping at straws trying to figure out what to do. Actors and writers are used to going long periods of time with no work, but they always have the hope of receiving a call. With the strike there is no hope, and without hope the town has fallen into a desperate state of, ‘What to do now?'”

‘Everyman’s strike’ hurts many

It’s important to Dorr that Christians empathize with and care for the thousands of working people who are suffering, thus demystifying the impression of L.A. as a place dominated by the rich and famous. The writer’s strike, Dorr insists, is wrongly perceived as being predominantly white collar.

“It’s much more of an everyman’s strike than people think. Only a small percentage of those on strike are what you would call rich. Our focus should not just be on the writers and producers, but on the thousands of below-the-line people [grips, gaffers, technicians, set designers, etc.] who are getting laid off.”

Indeed, in such a heavily “industry” town as L.A., a massive work stoppage like this has significant trickle-down effects on the economy. Restaurants, hotels, theaters, and other service industries are being hit heavily as less and less money is being made and spent. The entire city is feeling the effects, both on the macro and micro level.

Wierick, who makes a living as a screenwriter, saw the strike coming for “about a year” and thus put enough money away to survive a lengthy period of no work. For him, the most profound impact of the strike has been emotional.

“Beyond the economic impact of the strike, there is a severe emotional and spiritual toil,” Wierick commented. “People kept from their work for so long become frustrated and depressed.” Wierick, an elder at Hollywood Presbyterian Church, suggests that the Thursday night gatherings offer a place for those struggling to find hope.

At the January 31 event at Hollywood Presbyterian, a group of about 30 writers, actors, and other industry-friendly people braved the Thursday night Hollywood traffic (heightened by the Clinton-Obama debate down the street at the Kodak Theater) to come to a one-hour service of ministry to and prayer for Hollywood.

Eric Bryant, pastor from Mosaic, delivered a message about how “we can know that the future can be better than what we’re going through now,” and that we shouldn’t be paralyzed by our painful pasts, present disappointments, and fears of the future. He said that Christians—even in their own suffering—have to step up and offer comfort to those who are hurting. During a small group prayer time, Bryant called for prayer for all those suffering from the effects of the strike, but also for those who are just in need of love, like Britney Spears or Heath Ledger’s family.

“There are people out there that—if we [as Christians] don’t get out of bed—will not be helped,” said Bryant. “Our chief question should not be one of blame or pity, but ‘who out there needs a hug?'”

‘A night to repent’

for this week’s meeting—slated for Thursday—screenwriter and former Act One Director Barbara Nicolosi will deliver a “penitential-themed” message to the group, in the spirit of Ash Wednesday.

“We decided to have a night to repent as members of this large industry for our own individual small failures of greed and fear, and then know that this would go up from our corner of the industry and maybe bring down God’s mercy on the whole town,” said Nicolosi. “Christians in the business should be able to witness to both sides a way to get along together and make beautiful things without resentment and demonizing”—a pretty revolutionary concept, notes Nicolosi, for an industry conditioned to distrust and blame. “The idea of accepting the blame for the errors that we each have made because of our own greed and fear would literally strike people dumb.”

Nicolosi finds it interesting that in the two weeks of concerted prayer efforts by Christians in Hollywood, more progress in WGA negotiations has been made than in the previous two months. When the strike finally ends, few in Hollywood will consider the possibility that Christians played—or, more accurately, prayed—a role behind the scenes.

But as Nicolosi and others like to think, “Maybe it was our prayer too.”

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Last week, we posted our Top 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2007. This week, we present our Critics’ Choice Awards for the Top 10 Films of 2007.

What’s the difference between the lists? The “redeeming” list speaks for itself—films that included a redemptive element, sometimes blatant, sometimes more subtle, but always there.

Our Critics’ Choice list, on the other hand, consists of the 10 films that our panel believes were the most excellent films of 2007, whether they carried a redeeming message or not—though five of our top 10 choices also appeared on our Most Redeeming list. But all of the movies here are films of excellence, and many are up for various honors at the upcoming Academy Awards.

We also let each of our voters choose “One That Got Away”—a single film they wish had made our Top Ten list. Think of those extra films as sort of our “honorable mentions.”

For each of the top 10 films, we have simply included random comments from our team of critics. To learn more about the film’s synopsis, click “Our review” at the end of each summary.

1. Juno

directed by Jason Reitman

“Smartest script of the year, heartwarming and life-affirming.” “Not only does this film have a surprisingly pro-life element, it is also remarkably mature for a high school comedy.” “Layers of unexpected complexity and depth.” “Wacky and off the wall, but what makes it more than zany Napoleon Dynamite is heart; it’s grounded in character and a core of sweet, heartfelt love.” “Bitingly droll, tactless yet tender, and infinitely quotable.” “Avoids crowdpleasing crassness and sophomoric indulgence (and yes, I’m talking to you, Knocked Up.” “Easily the biggest crowd pleaser among this year’s most acclaimed films.” (Our review.)

2. There Will Be Blood

directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

“An utterly astonishing cinematic experience, rippling with muscle and sinew, assured and ambitious, a majestic, audacious work.” “A fascinating character study about a truly evil man who cares for nothing but his own accumulation of wealth.” “This masterfully filmed story of two vampiric charlatans at war is horrifying, revealing how both business and the church can become corrupted by ego and hatred.” “Riveting performances all around. Stunning use of sights and sounds.” “Engrossing in every way, from the camerawork and cinematography to the haunting score.” “It’s a film that pulls us into a character and forces us to fester within him like no other film has done in years.” (Our review.)

3. Atonement

directed by Joe Wright

“This isn’t a feel-good romance, but expertly tells a story of mistakes and remorse in an all-too-true and heartbreaking way.” “Emotionally devastating and intellectually stimulating.” “Joe Wright’s direction is astonishing, particularly the seamless camera work capturing the evacuation of Dunkirk.” “A reflective, cautionary tale about bearing false witness, forgiveness, and yes, atonement.” “Stylish and artistically superior.” “Lustrous and painterly, it can and will coax tears, but never by relying on maudlin sentimentality or cheap emotional theatrics.” (Our review.)

4. Lars and the Real Girl

directed by Craig Gillespie

“If Frank Capra made a film about a man, his sex doll, and the nostalgically caricatured community in which they live, this would be it.” “Don’t let the premise scare you off. This delicate tale is a tender-hearted, beautifully acted movie about compassion, grace, and true love.” “Sweet, offbeat, charming.” “An extraordinary balancing act, a move that could easily have gone wrong a hundred different ways, but somehow doesn’t.” “A note-perfect performance from Ryan Gosling.” “An incontestable delight.” “Everything about this movie is handled just right, striking the right tone.” (Our review.)

5. Ratatouille

directed by Brad Bird

“Delightful tale of a culinarily gifted rat that builds to an emotional climax as sublime as it is subtle.” “The year’s most entertaining film from every angle—writing, directing, music, voicework, animation … the whole package.” “Reminds us that we should all exercise critical discernment in our diet and beyond—humbly celebrating what is truly excellent.” “A delicious, delightful stew of a film.” “Totally original and surprising.” “This is less a kids’ movie that adults can appreciate too, but rather an animated movie for adults that kids can also enjoy.” “Another triumph for Pixar and director Brad Bird.” (Our review.)

6. No Country for Old Men

directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

“A gripping cat-and-mouse battle between a tracker and the assassin tracking him to recover his blood money. The Coen brothers have never been better in their storytelling.” “The silence of God may have been the mystery foremost on Cormac McCarthy’s mind as he wrote this tale of evil men who escape judgment.” “What is perhaps most amazing is that a film this terrifying, this violent, and this relentlessly nihilistic should also be this enthralling.” “Tense, amusing, challenging. An interesting tension in this film between absurdism and fatalism.” “A film that intentionally refuses satisfaction or answers to its audience, leaving us, like the older characters in the film, to stand stumped and disillusioned by the mundane nightmare of the modern world.” (Our review.)

7. Hairspray

directed by Adam Shankman

“Infectiously joyous celebration of the positive side of the ’60s, diversity, and positive thinking. “Though there are great messages concerning racial equality and self-sacrifice during the civil rights movement, it never takes itself too seriously—and that’s what makes it one of the year’s sweetest and most charming movies.” “Very fun, exuberant musical with some great performances from young actors.” “Newcomer Nikki Blonsky is terrific, a star in the making.” “The most fun in a theater this year … Great songs and art direction, hammered home by the top-notch acting.” (Our review.)

8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

directed by Julian Schnabel

“A sort of antithesis to recent pro-euthanasia films like The Sea Inside and Million Dollar Baby. An affirmation of the value of life even under the most excruciatingly debilitating conditions.” “Mesmerizing filmmaking; a visually brilliant immersion into a world of unimaginable limitations that turns out to be an extraordinarily liberating experience.” “Schnabel helps us rediscover some of the more delicate joys of living, and provokes us to reflect on the gravity of our own decisions.” “Fluidly weaves the worlds of imagination, memory, and dreams into a tapestry of one man’s point of view on a world both tragic and hopeful.” “A great character study of a dynamic man’s journey out of the cocoon.” “A gorgeous piece of filmmaking, pulsating with life and energy.” (Our review.)

9. Zodiac

directed by David Fincher

“One of the most intriguing, taut thrillers of the year.” “A gripping tale about one of the most famous unsolved mysteries. A fascinating procedural reminiscent of All the President’s Men or JFK.” “Fincher reminds us that reason, information, the mass media, and technology—while helpful in bringing criminals to justice—are not enough to help humankind resolve the problem of evil.” “A wonderful crime story because of its unique nature—it’s not about the killer but about the man obsessed with finding the killer.” “Touches on some interesting themes regarding the changes wrought by time, the relationship between reality and pop culture, and the obsessive lengths some people will go to find order and meaning in the seeming chaos and indifference of the world.” (Our review.)

10. Into Great Silence

directed by Philip Gröning

“A transformational theatrical experience, a spiritual encounter, an exercise in contemplation and introspection, a profound meditation on what it means to give oneself totally and completely to God.” “Gets you into the otherworldly rhythm of life in a secluded monastery.” “The movie shows rather than tells, and makes it all the more reverent, prayerful, and tranquil because of it.” “Pure cinema at its purest and most exalted. Sublimely beautiful; precise compositions and stunning lighting.” “The film demands patience—three hours of it—and if it were any shorter, it would not achieve what it achieves. It is meant to test us; to cause us to ponder the sacrifice, restraint and stillness required to find true silence; to include us toward the ‘still small voice’ of God.” (Our review.)

The Ones That Got Away

We asked each of our voters to describe one movie they wish had made our top 10 list:

Amazing Grace

One of the best—if not the best—historical films of the year. Stirring, inspiring and weighty, the movie tells the story of William Wilberforce, a longtime member of the British Parliament who used his career to doggedly fight the slave trade. By depicting the vibrant Christian faith that drives Wilberforce’s crusade, the movie is a good model for Christian filmmakers to follow. With a captivating screenplay, revered cast, acclaimed director and true heart, Amazing Grace shows how films proclaiming Christ can best work: by focusing on story, delivering authenticity and embracing artistry. (Our review.)— Todd Hertz

Cave of the Yellow Dog

From the same director who brought us the hauntingly beautiful Story of the Weeping Camel in 2004, Yellow Dog takes us back to the vast and stunning Mongolian landscape. Here, we follow the adventures of another nomadic family; like Weeping Camel, it’s a combination documentary/drama (the nonprofessional actors are a real family going about their everyday lives). When daughter Nansal (about 5 years old), brings home a stray dog, her father, thinking the dog killed some of his sheep, refuses to let her keep it. Will the persistent Nansal, arguably the most adorable young girl on the big screen all year, get her way? A breathtaking look at a surreal place, its culture, and its people. (Official website.)— Mark Moring

Gone Baby Gone

Amazingly enough, Gone Baby Gone establishes Ben Affleck as one of the most promising new directors of 2007. As with Dennis Lehane’s book Mystic River (also an excellent film), this too is set in Boston and begins with a missing child case. But what initially seems a cut-and-dry thriller evolves unexpectedly into a gripping morality play. Like The Departed, Gone Baby Gone is overflowing with knockout acting (Casey Affleck, Amy Ryan, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman) as well as profanity (something about crime films set in Boston, perhaps?). Expect to ponder over the choices we make about right and wrong well past the final scene of this criminally overlooked drama. (Our review.)— Russ Breimeier

In the Shadow of the Moon

Award-winning documentaries are often chronicles of human failure. David Sington’sIn the Shadow of the Moon, which revisits the bumpy but triumphant course of the United States’ Apollo space program, is not only a testament to human achievement, it’s also an eloquent witness to the grandeur of creation and man’s unique place in it. Though the archival NASA footage, some never before seen, is transporting, the movie’s heart is supplied by the memories and perspective of ten surviving Apollo astronauts including Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Jim Lovell. (Our review.)— Steven D. Greydanus

Into the Wild

Sean Penn’s adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s best-selling book is a strikingly well-composed portrait of American ambition, disillusionment, and natural beauty. Though set in the early ’90s, the film feels like a ’70s-era rebel road movie (with touches of existentialism and hippie fanfare). Featuring some of the year’s best performances (from Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener, and Hal Holbrook), gorgeous on-location photography, and a perfectly somber soundtrack by grunge pioneer Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild is visceral cinema at its best.It’s a film about the extremes of life and landscape—of being emotionally, physically, and spiritually on the brink of something big. (Our review.)— Brett McCracken

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Billy Mitchell is a flamboyant, egotistical champion with a sexy wife and a thriving business, while Steve Wiebe is a quiet, unassuming family man who spends all his spare time in the garage. But one thing these two men have in common is Donkey Kong—and a desire to set, and keep, the world record for highest score on this vintage video game. This documentary is a remarkable study of these two characters and the bizarre society they inhabit: Billy as an insider who has known all the right people for decades, and Steve as an outsider who gradually overcomes the suspicions of other people. Steve Taylor once sang about people “carving [their] name on a video game” in a quest for immortality, and this film shows how intense that quest can get. (Official website.)— Peter T. Chattaway

The Lives of Others

The Academy Winner for Best Foreign Film in 2006 (it got a 2007 release in the U.S.), The Lives of Others—about an East German secret police officer who discovers his lost humanity while spying on a subversive writer—is a profoundly beautiful story of paranoia and privation, of cowardice and heroism, of persuasion and resolve, of scrutiny and freedom, and of the secrets we keep even from ourselves. The Lives of Others is an overwhelmingly redemptive thriller and an undisputed masterpiece. (Official website.)— Brandon Fibbs

Once

It’s a simple plot, really. An Irish street musician meets a Czech immigrant and together they make beautiful music. The main characters don’t even get names; they’re simply listed as Guy and Girl in the credits. They’re both broken-hearted, poor, and capable of more musically than their current circumstances allow. Together, with the help of songs full of raw and beautiful longing, they experience the ability of music to elevate us above both the mundane and heart-breaking details of life—and to connect us to one another in ways both temporary and profound. (Official site.)— Camerin Courtney

Paprika

Walt Disney Pictures helped Americans discover master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, distributing Spirited Away in 2001 (which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature). If Satoshi Kon’s Paprika had also received widespread distribution, we might have seen a similar sensation. It’s the most imaginative movie of 2007, and the best science fiction adventure too. It’s about a Japanese psychotherapist with a secret identity—”Paprika.” By night, she plunges into patients’ dreams using a high-tech device: a DC Mini. When terrorists steal several Minis and terrify people in dreams, Paprika must infiltrate sub-conscious wonderlands to catch the crooks. But make no mistake: This is no cartoon for kids; it’s rated R for violence and sexual images. (Official site.)— Jeffrey Overstreet

Sweeney Todd

Okay, it’s not for everyone, this movie about a vengeful barber who beheads his patrons and bakes them into meat pies. And it’s a musical. But there’s no denying that Tim Burton’s latest is also one of his greatest. Equal parts macabre comedy, grisly horror story, and extravagant musical, Todd plays to all of Burton’s strengths; his films often boast a style that isn’t matched by substance, but Todd is full of enough humor and humanity that it’s much more than just a feast for the senses. Though the humor is as dark and as bloody as it gets, it’s also surprisingly potent in sinking its teeth into our emotions—and it has some surprising things to say about the relationship between revenge and justice, and the destructive effects that a blind, misguided love can have. (Our review.)— Josh Hurst

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has a reputation for diving fearlessly into controversial issues. A visit to his Wikipedia page reveals his history of treading into cultural minefields and not leaving until every bomb has detonated. His penchant for pyrotechnics continues with his latest book, Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth (Multnomah, 2008). Mohler addresses issues like faith and politics, morality and law, war and terror, homosexuality, and abortion – that’s a lot of mines to detonate in 160 very small pages.

In a chapter entitled “Needed: An Exit Strategy from Public Schools,” Mohler argues that “public schools are prime battlegrounds for cultural conflict.” In Massachusetts, for example, children as young as seven years old have been assigned a book called King & King, in which a homosexual prince falls in love with another prince and, one assumes, lives happily ever after. Because same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, educators insist that a homosexual lifestyle be presented in public schools as normal and, as a result, they affirm the districts’ decision to require the book. Many Christians object to this sort of curriculum, but what can be done?

Mohler suggests the following:

I am convinced that the time has come for Christians to develop an exit strategy from the public schools. Some parents made this decision long ago. The Christian school and home school movements are among the most significant cultural developments of the last thirty years. Other parents are not there yet. In any event, an exit strategy should be in place.

This suggestion elicits questions about Christian mission and presence in the world. Will the darkness become even more pervasive if we stage a mass exodus from public school systems? On the other hand, do we risk the souls of our children for the sake of outreach?

But Mohler’s solution also has implications for church leadership. He continues:

This strategy would affirm the basic and ultimate responsibility of Christian parents to take charge of the education of their own children. The strategy would also affirm the responsibility of churches to equip parents, support families, and offer alternatives.

I’d like to hear what all of you Ur-banites think. Do churches have a responsibility to offer alternatives to public education? Is it appropriate for church leaders to decide for their congregations whether their children ought to remain in public schools or move to a private or home school environment?

Mohler is certainly right about one thing; it is only a matter of time before Christians in every region of the country face challenges like the one described above. He is also right that churches are responsible for equipping parents to respond to their children’s difficult questions. But how? How can church leaders equip believers – including their very youngest members – to follow Jesus and be salt and light? And what does that mean for our relationship to public schools?

As his poll numbers continue to climb dramatically with Republicans, John McCain has been extending an olive branch to evangelicals in the party. But evidence is mixed over whether he can win their support.

In the first six Republican matchups, the Arizona senator has had not seen the major successes among evangelical voters that have boosted rivals Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

Among Republicans who identified themselves as evangelical or born again, Huckabee won Iowa with 46 percent over Romney (19%) and McCain (10%). The New Hampshire evangelical vote was split between Huckabee (28%), McCain (28%), and Romney (27%). In Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina, McCain fell behind Huckabee, and in Nevada even Ron Paul gathered more votes (13%) than McCain (9%) did. But despite his strong overall showing in Florida, McCain (30%) barely overtook Huckabee (29%) and Romney (29%) among evangelicals.

A September 2007 Pew Forum survey showed that 36 percent of evangelicals are reluctant to vote for Romney because of his Mormon faith, and some are concerned about his “flip flopping” on issues like abortion. Still, McCain has not been able to attract many evangelical votes from Romney as his overall poll numbers have climbed.

Many journalists attribute McCain’s lackluster support to a comment he made during the 2000 election, when he described Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance.” But Wheaton College political science professor Amy Black says that comment would not significantly hurt him among evangelicals eight years later. However, she says, other issues from the 2000 campaign may be limiting his appeal.

“Many voters will remember McCain as the more liberal option from 2000,” Black told Christianity Today. “They’re looking for a social conservative and an economic conservative. McCain does not have a strong consistent record on both of those in a way that the Christian conservatives want. He’s not a liberal, but he’s just more moderate.” McCain led campaign finance rules that frustrated some evangelical leaders who felt it restricted their involvement in politics. He also supported stem-cell research and looser immigration rules, and he opposed large tax cuts and a marriage amendment.

McCain’s campaign rode a roller coaster last year. A Pew Forum poll taken in April 2007 showed Rudy Giuliani leading among evangelicals with 27 percent, while McCain closely trailed with 23 percent. But McCain nearly dropped off the radar screen last fall. A September ABC poll showed McCain gaining 13 percent among evangelicals, trailing behind former candidates Rudy Giuliani (23 percent) and Fred Thompson (22 percent). Romney gained eight percent and Huckabee was not listed in the poll.

Two former aides hired to lead religious outreach were fired in April 2007 during a campaign staff reshuffling. The staffers complained of McCain’s lack of effort to connect with voters on religious terms, says Furman University political science professor Jim Guth. “They universally reported a contempt toward conservative Protestants and traditionalist Catholics,” Guth said.

Marlene Elwell, one of the fired staffers and an activist who directed Michigan’s 2004 marriage amendment campaign, told reporters that others in the campaign ignored her and wanted to collect church directories against her objections. “The way we were being treated, it was as if we had leprosy,” she told reporter Dan Gilgoff. Elwell endorsed Romney on January 14.

At least one conservative leader is adamant in his views of McCain. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, told Dallas Christian radio KCBI that he “would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.” But scholars like John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life are not sure leaders will actually matter when it comes to voting day.

“The most interesting thing about John McCain in the primaries is that he’s getting a big share of the evangelical vote, yet there hasn’t been much enthusiasm from evangelical leaders,” Green said. “Trying to pigeonhole evangelical voters by looking at a few leaders is probably a big mistake.”

If McCain wins the Republican nomination, Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, says McCain may lose many evangelical voters to Democratic Senator Barack Obama, whose campaign has done significantly more religious outreach than McCain’s, and who regularly talks about faith on the campaign trail. “[McCain] doesn’t have the ability like Bill Clinton and George Bush to use the language of redemption and forgiveness, and is theologically a little tone deaf,” Cromartie said. But Cromartie thinks McCain would have an easier time against Obama’s primary opponent. “The most motivating words for religious conservatives will be ‘President Hillary Clinton.'”

Although McCain hasn’t garnered overwhelming evangelical support in states that have already voted, he may have some hope on Super Tuesday and afterward. A January Pew Forum survey found that McCain has 25 percent of conservative evangelical support, between Huckabee’s 33 percent and Romney’s 12 percent.

Huckabee’s national poll numbers have been dropping over the last month, and he has not won a primary or caucus since Iowa. His opponents are better financed, and Huckabee has not gained much support among non-evangelicals. Exit polls show many Huckabee supporters listed McCain as their second choice, which Green says is likely because Huckabee and McCain are socially conservative but economically moderate.

But there may be good, if bittersweet, news for Huckabee: Pundits and journalists, like the Washington Post‘s Chris Cillizza, are speculating he could be McCain’s choice as a running mate, and might deliver the evangelical support McCain has been missing.

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News coverage of McCain’s surge and evangelical voters includes:

McCain’s Critics on Right Look Again | Senator John McCain has long aroused almost unanimous opposition from the leaders of the right. That, however, was before he emerged this week as the party’s front-runner. (The New York Times)

If Huckabee goes, who will evangelicals back? | The Baptist preacher goes up against two better-financed, better-known and better-placed rivals in 21 states for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination, and pundits give him next to no chance. (Reuters)

In GOP Primaries: Three Victors, Three Constituencies | Romney Gains Among Non-Evangelical Conservatives (Pew Forum survey)

McCain reaching out to Christian conservative base | McCain talks about his faith (McClatchy newspapers)

Other Christianity Today articles on campaign 2008 are available in our full-coverage section.

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. LewisMichael Ward

Not another book on Lewis? Hang on. This feat of scholarly detective work will absorb your attention from start to finish. Michael Ward proposes a heretofore unnoticed structure that unifies the Chronicles of Narnia, based on Lewis’s lifelong engagement with medieval astrology. (No, not the Nancy Reagan variety.) The result is both surprising and persuasive.

Beyond Left and Right: Helping Christians Make Sense of American PoliticsAmy Black

Amy Black is a professor of political science at Wheaton College; she’s also been in the trenches, having served on the staff of a congresswoman. That combination of scholarly perspective and street smarts sets her book apart. If it’s been a few years since your last civics class, you’ll particularly appreciate Black’s overview of the American political system; she’s also helpful in distinguishing between the various “political theologies” that continue to shape voters’ perceptions. No matter your political affiliation, here’s the perfect guide to get you through this election year with your sanity intact, your friendships unbroken, and your Christian convictions uncompromised.

Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social EngagementDonald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori

This long-awaited book is the fruit of years of research around the world, in firsthand encounters with an extraordinary variety of Pentecostal believers. Make room on the shelf where you keep Andrew Walls, Lamin Sanneh, Philip Jenkins, and others who are giving us glimpses of the 21st-century church. One moment drawing on a case study in Poland, the next moving to Buenos Aires, Miller and Yamamori show how Pentecostalism is changing lives and reforming social structures. And while they are not uncritical observers, they debunk many hostile characterizations of this vibrant movement.

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Previous Bookmarks are available in our full-coverage section of books.

IF A MAN believes in unalterable natural law, he cannot believe in any miracle in any age. If a man believes in a will behind law, he can believe in any miracle in any age.G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

IT IS MY OPINION that miracle is an essential element of biblical faith. … Miracle, however, is not to be understood in terms of the 19th-century argument between science and religion, but in terms of the biblical doctrine of Creation. From this perspective, miracle is strange and offensive not only to modern man, but to ancient man as well.Millard C. Lind, “Reflections on Biblical Hermeneutics,” in Kingdom, Cross, and Community

A MIRACLE in healing is not the conjuring of some magic, nor a disruption in the created order, or something supernatural. Rather, healing exemplifies the redemption of fallen creation, the restoration of the created order, the return to the usual, the normative, the natural.William Stringfellow, A Simplicity of Faith: My Experience in Mourning

THE FITNESS of the Christian miracles, and their difference from these mythological miracles, lies in the fact that they show invasion by a Power which is not alien. They are what might be expected to happen when [nature] is invaded not simply by a god, but by the God of Nature: by a Power which is outside her jurisdiction not as a foreigner but as a sovereign.C. S. Lewis, Miracles

GOD does not sell himself into the hands of religious magicians. I do not believe in that kind of miracles. I believe in the kind of miracles that God gives to his people who live so close to him that answers to prayer are common and these miracles are not uncommon.A. W. Tozer, Rut, Rot, or Revival

IS NOT the most helpful way to approach the gospel miracles to place them within the familiar and inescapable tension between the already and the not yet, kingdom come and kingdom coming, the new age inaugurated and the new age consummated? To the skeptical (who doubt all miracles), I want to say “but already we have tasted the powers of the age to come.” To the credulous (who think that healing miracles are an everyday occurrence), I want to say “but not yet have we been given resurrection bodies free from disease, pain, infirmity, handicap, and death.”John R. W. Stott, Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue

CHRIST HIMSELF … is the supreme miracle and the chief attestation of the truth of the biblical revelation.Alan Richardson, Christian Apologetics

A MIRACLE is a sign of thelove of Jesus,Who yearns to heal each one of usSo that we can become truly alive and grow in love.Jean Vanier, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John

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As part of my work with www.BuildingSmallGroups.com, I recently had the privilege of interviewing Alan Hirsch on the subject of his book The Forgotten Ways.

If you’re not familiar with that book, it’s basically a call for the church – both universal and individual – to return to the missional/movement ethos that drove its rapid growth and impact during the Early Church, and that is currently doing the same through the house-church movement in China.

In the book, Hirsch writes about six principles of missional movements that he identified throughout the course of his research. One of them really piqued my interest: embracing the idea of communitas instead of what we traditionally call community. If you’re not familiar with the term, communitas are basically a type of community that develops out of a shared ordeal or challenge – they’re what turn friends into comrades. Think of a house church that meets in secret to avoid persecution, for example.

I was curious how that principle could possibly be applied to middle-class America, so I asked him. Click below to hear what he has to say–to me, it sounds like pretty good advice:

Readers of Frederick Buechner have waited a long time for a study of his work on the scale offered by this volume, and Dale Brown (formerly of Calvin College) is in as good a position as anyone to take on the project: he has written on Buechner extensively, and has recently launched the Buechner Institute at King College in Tennessee.

Two primary convictions guide Brown’s explorations: first, that Buechner’s own life story can be fruitfully explored through his fiction (“all approaches to Buechner have to pass through the novels”); and second, that there is an essential unity of theme and purpose throughout Buechner’s novels (“Buechner’s attention to the ambiguities of human existence is the persistent chord echoing throughout his work, and the infrequent glimmering of hope is the persistent conclusion”).

The industry and thoroughness evident in this work are admirable. Brown deftly summarizes the characters and plot lines of each of Buechner’s novels (some of the earliest of which I confess to having never read), and has tracked down and absorbed pretty well every extant review of Buechner’s work, quoting frequently (some may find too liberally) from these sources. His diligent use of archival material sheds still further light on Buechner’s writing and editing. And, by way of suggesting points of influence on or similarity to Buechner, Brown’s allusions to a broad range of other literary works are prolific.

Of all of Buechner’s traits, it is his sense of ambiguity that readers react to most strongly—either drawn to or put off by precisely this same thing. For readers who are weary of doctrinal contention and bombast, a little Buechner is just what is wanted; others, possessing a greater need for certainty and precision in belief, are prone to find Buechner too introspective, sure of far too little, and hence unsatisfying. Whether we consider this a strength or a flaw, it must be agreed that this ambivalence is integral both to who Buechner is and to how he writes. The Book of Buechner rings truest when it takes Buechner on his own ambivalent terms, less so when it seems to want Buechner to be more consistent, more sure of himself, than he really is.

To put it differently, even a reading of Buechner’s fiction as expansive and as probing as this one may not end up charting a “journey” (see the subtitle) whose objectives are clear and settled from the outset of the author’s career, or one without its share of improbable (though always intriguing) detours. Brown might very well agree. What does it tell us, after all, if a deep–seated sense of life’s ambiguity (Buechner’s characteristic respect for the relationship between faith and doubt) is evident in his early as well as his later fiction? If we find solitary pilgrim–figures or sort–of–saints appearing at various phases of Buechner’s fictional development? If themes of grief and loss, the sacred within the profane (and vice–versa) recur in various guises throughout such a long and intriguing career? We could say that Buechner has been consistent in his faithful uncertainty, in his wandering, in his longing for home.

David Stewart is director of library rervices at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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