Posts by Carmen Fowler LaBerge
What’s love got to do with it?
Rock and soul singer Tina Turner has died after a long battle with illness. She was 83. Maybe her most well known song was “What’s love got to do with it?” That’s a very provocative question. I contend that love is much more than a second-hand emotion. In fact, everything is all about love. Where…
Read MoreSpotlight Interview with Jon Ward, National News Correspondent
Jon Ward is a front line journalist in Washington D.C. and a Christian. He currently serves as the chief National Correspondent at Yahoo! News, and has covered American politics and culture for two decades— writing about the what, the who, the how of our national political discourse— including time as a White House correspondent traveling…
Read MoreWhere Everyone Went When Everything Went Wrong
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to…
Read MoreCulture Garden
Culture. It’s a bit of buzzword. We’ve got office culture, pop culture, church wars and even a clash of cultures but do we really know how to define it?. What is culture? From a biblical perspective, a simple definition of culture is what humans do with what God created. Culture certainly includes art, music, fashion,…
Read MoreHappy Rebirth Day!
Each year, we have the chance to celebrate the gift of life by giving and receiving birthday gifts and messages. I appreciate the warm sentiments, silly cards and simple acknowledgments of all the ways in which our lives are woven together. One year, I received a message that has forever influenced the way I view…
Read MoreAn invitation to Lenten Devotional
During this Lenten Season, I invite you to listen to the Word of God that we might hear God afresh and be drawn more fully into His love. We are reminded in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” So when was the last time we honestly, really,…
Read MoreThe Biden State of the Union and the state of our union in Christ
The President of the United States is scheduled to deliver the annual State of the Union address tonight on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Every year it gets me thinking about the state of my union with Christ, the state of the church, and yes, the state of the union of the nation I call home. …
Read MoreThis Valentine’s day, let’s “phileo”
In the 15th chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus bestows a great gift to his disciples. He says to them, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends.” Jesus demonstrated the value of true and faithful friendship. He knit together a small group…
Read MoreNew Year. New you?
Once again we find ourselves in a brand new year. We start with high hopes, great expectations and often a number of resolutions that prove unrealistic. Mere days into the fresh, new calendar, and some of us are already giving up. Our willpower is not as strong as we thought, or significant, unforeseen events push…
Read MoreBegin again, again
Children call it a “do over.” Golfers call it a “mulligan.” Television and film directors call it a “retake.” By whatever name, it is the realization that something didn’t go as we planned and we need a reset. We failed and we now have the opportunity to do it again. And, we want to do…
Read MoreWhen Christmas isn’t Hallmark Happy
The Hallmark Channel has become as synonymous with Christmas as Bing Crosby or 34th Street were for prior generations. Hallmark movies have become so popular they are now a genre. Other content producers now make “Hallmark-type” movies for Christmas. You know the type— relatively clean, pretty cheesy, but always with a predictable story plot where…
Read MoreConversation Tool: Christmas
Start the Conversation: Everywhere you look people have decorated for Christmas. But the characters of Christmas in America range from Santa to Snoopy to the Elf on the Shelf and Jack Skellington. What is Christmas, really? And who are the characters of the real Christmas story? How in the world do we Christ back into…
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