Advancing the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God.
December 24, 1223: Francis of Assisi stages history’s first living nativity scene, complete with live animals, in a cave near Greccio, Italy (see issue 42: Francis of Assisi).
December 24, 1491: Spanish ascetic and theologian Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is born in Guipuzcoa, Spain. His order quickly became a great power in Roman Catholicism and led the Counter-Reformation.
December 24, 1818: Franz Gruber composes “Silent Night” in the St. Nicholas Church of Oberndorf, Austria.
The Russell Moore Show
Gather round ye listeners come…Andrew Peterson is back.
How a former MLB player found God and a calling for civic service.
The heroine reminds me what it means to be beloved as I raise three children who were abandoned like her.
There are still good teachers doing good work. But they can only do so much when district directives and resources push them online.
News
The executive order reverses a Biden-era push for LGBTQ policies that shut Christians out of fostering and adoption, but its legal mechanism is left vague.
They’re not wrong to believe in a contested world. But they’ve misidentified the villains.
The Bulletin
Australia bans social media for kids, CDC’s recommendations change, college football uproar, and the far right lens on history.
The Russell Moore Show
Russell takes a listener question about whether some songs are better than others for worshipping in a congregational setting.