In my first post in this series, I began with a lunch encounter I recently had with the President of the Seminary where I teach. I mentioned that I wondered if my confession that my wife and I were not currently attending church might cost me my teaching position at the Seminary. My consternation derived partly from the reality that many Christians do not know what to do with those who are not in a local church at the moment—perhaps... Read more
Well, I am sure that Donald Trump’s election will provide plenty of material for this blog. This does not mean that I am excited. Actually, I am quite fearful. Of course, please don’t misunderstand: I pray that I am wrong. In fact, I will try to keep this post handy so that I can repost it 4 years from now in order to report any fears that prove unfounded. I hope that this article, four years from now, will be... Read more
I recently had a conversation with another pastor-friend. At one point, we moved on to a controversial topic. I began to share with him that I had been rethinking the issue. Since he was intrigued and since I knew I could trust him, I shared my thoughts. When I finished, he acknowledged that what I was thinking made sense. Then, I commented, “You realize that you can’t have this conversation with anyone in your Church. You might be able to... Read more
I recently had lunch with the President (who is a good friend) and some of the other faculty members of the seminary where I teach. During the conversation, the President turned to me and asked, “So, Rob, where are you going to church these days?” I immediately wondered if my position at the seminary was in jeopardy. I can’t help but consider whether the Church resembles a burning building today. I am not suggesting that it has simply become corrupted. I wonder if... Read more
Palestinian Pastor Munther Isaac recently posted, “The irony for us Palestinian Christians is that evangelicals, with their overemphasis on prophecy, have lost the capacity of being prophetic. You want to prove that the Bible is right? You don’t do this by pointing to self-fulfilling prophecy or by pointing to world events as prophecy fulfillment. This is not how you prove that the Bible is right. We prove that the Bible is right by radical obedience to the teaching of Jesus—by... Read more
I have yet to offer my thoughts on the election. Instead, last week, I began to offer some thoughts on the present war on Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians. (part 1; part 2). NB: I have expressed in the past that Israel’s assault on Gaza is not good for Israel. I am convinced that it will lead to the demise of Israel in the near future. How near? Time will tell. In my last two posts, I noted... Read more
What do I think about the elections last week? Well, my first concern has been what this means for the war on Gaza. The war has continued to advance for months, and we have tuned it out. As if our elections were more important than the deaths of thousands of women and children. In my last post, I asked, “What would I do if my child were illegally detained and tortured for months?” Although I do not believe in violence,... Read more
Well, I suppose you might be expecting my reaction to the election results. Honestly, I am still processing things. I will say, at this point, that I am deeply grieved—as I have been for some time now—at the state of the Church. I suppose that the election provided more confirmation that the Church is deeply broken and, as I have thought for some time now, maybe even irreparably broken. But more on this in an upcoming post. When I say... Read more
I am going to address a political post, and I ask that you hear me out. I will do my best to keep this post brief (less than 500 words!). I was reading a good friend’s Facebook post this morning. He began by noting that he has been reticent, for good reasons, to make political posts. He proceeded with caution to explain his concerns about one of the presidential candidates’ character and reputation. The post was well-written and respectful in... Read more
The Kingdom of God Isn’t on the Ballot: A Guide to Voting with Purpose “Today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Okay, I am not applying this text to tomorrow’s election. Unfortunately, many Christians do. In saying this, I don’t intend to undermine those with serious convictions about the election. But I would note that the Church existed for well over a thousand years before the US was founded. And the Church thrives today in places like China,... Read more
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