After moving away from a fundamentalist background to the Episcopal Church Robert E. Webber spent many years of his life helping evangelicals become more deeply rooted in the historical faith they are a part of. He is known to many today through his “Ancient Future” series of book, which have helped provide a context of historical Christian worship and formation for the evangelicals of today. I recently read his book Ancient Future Evangelism (Baker Books, 2003). In it he posits... Read more

You may have read my post on The Dark Night of the Soul a few days ago. I ran across an audio version of the book posted on youtube. If you have 7 or so hours to spare I recommend listening to it. I put it on in the background the other day and listened to the whole thing. It definitely made me think of certain things more hearing it read aloud and not just reading it. Let me know... Read more

Today’s post is from From Richard Wurmbrand’s With God in Solitary Confinement via Father Stephen. Wurmbrand was a Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned for his faith in communist Romania. Here he met orthodox pastors and other people of faith. In his reflections on this he tells us this story. “I once tried to explain ‘systematic theology’ to a Russian pastor of the Underground Church, who had never seen a whole New Testament. Systematically, I began to explain to him the... Read more

Lent is a season that the christian church has historically used as a time to examine itself, to intentionally undergo fasts, and to take time to seek greater union with God. There are few guides that I have found more wise and valuable in understanding these values of Lent then Saint John of the Cross. His work is profoundly powerful and also sheds a great deal of light on the profitability of those times that we today often describe as... Read more

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After watching the video below I think it’s very odd that Mark Driscoll is the pastor of a church called Mars Hill. For those of you who don’t know Mars Hill is the place where the book of Acts records the Apostle Paul’s sermon to the Athenians. In it the apostle Paul introduces the Gospel to the Greeks by proclaiming one of the God’s they serve is really the God of Israel. He then uses a pagan work Phenomena by... Read more

Today marks the 125th Anniversary of the founding of the Evangelical Covenant Church! The Covenant Church is the denomination I am seeking ordination in after I finish seminary. I thought today would be a good day to tell you a little bit about it! Since my relocated to Chicago to study at North Park Theological Seminary many people have asked me why I decided to move. Some wonder why I left at all. Others have questioned why I would choose... Read more

Have a blessed Saint Valentines Day! I thought today I would share an article written by the German Reformer Martin Luther. My wife and I recently read through this together, and we both found a good deal of life in it. I hope you enjoy it, and can take to heart the depth of God’s call to love one another! The Estate of Marriage (selections) by Martin Luthertr. Brandt, from “luther’s works, volume 45.” (Fortress Press, 1962) The world says... Read more

We are all communicators, we can’t avoid it. Our daily interactions at even the most menial level are transmitting messages to others around us. For many people, myself included, this process goes on often without a great deal of thought or concise involvement. I, for one, know that so often I’m not cognizant of the rules that guide the positions and mediums I employ every day to communicate. I have been reading Charles H. Kraft’s Communication theory for the Christian... Read more

A reader and friend recently asked me a question relating to my decision to go to seminary at North Park Theological Seminary. North Park is connected to the Evangelical Covenant Church. Which is a branch off the Pietist movement within the Lutheran Church. I will be posting a lot more about the Covenant Church in the months to come. I would love to here other Covenenaters thoughts on this question! Got a question for you, as a Lutheran now studying... Read more