The following books by Dr. Robert D. Cornwall are currently 50% off while in-office stock lasts.
This past Tuesday night (July 19, 2016), Energion owner Henry Neufeld interviewed Dr. Bob Cornwall about his new book Marriage in Interesting TImes: A Participatory Study Guide. One of the key questions is just what is a biblical marriage and how does one go about studying the biblical view(s) on marriage and applying principles to our lives in the 21st century.
Free evaluation copies of Bob’s study guide are available to people who are considering using it in a small group or classroom study. Find more information and a form to request a free evaluation copy on this page.
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I do have the opportunity, however, to participate in the election of a President, a member of Congress, and other elected offices. There’s a transit millage on the ballot in November as well. I know that the candidates for these offices are not perfect. They may or may not be religious people. Simply because they are religious, or a member of a particular religion, doesn’t mean they are equipped for office. All I can do is look at them and decide which of these candidates will work for a vision of the common good that fits the vision I believe Christ exemplifies. What we cannot do is tie our faith too closely to any one partisan perspective.
Read Bob’s entire post at Ponderings on a Faith Journey.
To see a list of all Bob’s books with Energion Publications, see his author page.
by Bob Cornwall
I must admit that I’m a bit puzzled by the current political season? I may be a pastor, but I’ve always been interested in politics. I first got involved in politics as a ten-year-old. It was 1968. My parents were both active in the Republican Party. I got to spend time at the Republican headquarters and stood with the teenagers who lined the road when Richard Nixon came to town. We all wore sashes that declared “Nixon’s the One.” Four years later, as a fourteen-year-old, I went door-to-door for the party’s candidates. I was so interested in politics that I began to dream of a day when I could enter the political ring. I admit I was young and maybe naïve, but I believed that this was an honorable profession.
I’m older now. I changed parties during seminary. I’m not quite as active in politics as I was as a fourteen-year-old, but despite everything I continue to believe that politics can be an honorable profession. At least I hope so. If not, then I fear for the country in which I have spent my life. There has always been a dark side to politics, but there was a time, or at least I thought there was, when people could sit down and work out their differences.
As a Christian and as a religious leader I believe that people of faith can play a productive role in public life. But to do so, we need to recognize the importance of political pluralism. I have a responsibility to advocate for just laws. I have a responsibility to be a good citizen. I live in a democracy (a republican form), in which my vote has important implications. As I vote I should ask what my implications for the nation and the world that vote has.
People like to complain about the state of our politics, but have we forgotten that those in positions of political leadership were put there by the citizens of this nation. Unfortunately, many citizens forgo their opportunity to cast a vote. Participation is extremely low. If Congress is dysfunctional or the courts seem unaccountable, could it be that we have been negligent in our voting patterns, especially in off-year elections?
At the same time as some choose not to vote, others work to disenfranchise citizens. They make it difficult to vote due to limited polling places, inconvenient voting times, or placing barriers to getting registered. These burdens have hit those who poor and those whose ethnicity differs from the majority. I don’t think we should force people to vote, but I do think we need to take our citizenship seriously. If for no other reason, then out of concern for our neighbors, whomever they are and wherever they may live. That is, let us expand our neighborhoods to embrace the entirety of the community.
I write this as a follower of Jesus who believes that my love for God can and should be expressed by my love for my neighbor. As this is the season of Lent and the journey takes us toward the cross, I’m ever mindful that Jesus was tortured and executed by the state. Jesus, I believe, identifies with the tortured and the executed. Thus, I should do the same.
Like I said at the beginning, I’m puzzled by this political season. I hear lots of rhetoric that is rather unseemly. I hear candidates embrace torture and exclusion. Is this politics as usual? Am I naïve to believe that public service is honorable? I hope not! It is for this reason that I wrote the essays that form my book Faith in the Public Square, even as I continue to give to God my Ultimate Allegiance!
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Remember that our political titles are on sale until the election, including both Preserving Democracy and Faith in the Public Square.
Energion authors Robert D. Cornwall (a progressive) and Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. (a conservative) will be engaging in a blog discussion about issues related to the election.
Elgin is author of Energion title Preserving Democracy along with Evidence for the Bible and Christianity and Secularism. Bob is author of Faith in the Public Square along with Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide and Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer.
So how will this discussion work?
Each Saturday, beginning August 11, Energion owner Henry Neufeld will post a question for the coming week here on Energion.net. By Wednesday of the following week, both authors will post an answer to that question on their blogs. They will then each have an opportunity to respond to the other’s post. As a rule, they will be writing just one blog response to the other’s answer. I will post links to each entry here on Energion.net.
If you’re interested in a serious discussion of the issues, you can also publicize this discussion via your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.
This being the blogosphere, you’re naturally wondering how you can get involved. We couldn’t keep you away if we wanted to, and we don’t. Feel free to respond to the question on your own. You can post a link to your post in the comments or you can e-mail us the URL and I will link to you here as well.
You can comment on Elgin’s or Bob’s blogs or right here at Energion.net. Each blogger is fully responsible for moderating comments on his own blogs. Under the rules of Energion.net you can also post comments here.
Watch here for the first question to be posted on August 11.
[The following review is by Bob Cornwall, author of Energion titles Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer and Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide. The book reviewed is by Bruce Epperly, author of Philippians: A Participatory Study Guide.]