Okay, who wrote this: It is authority that is important rather than inerrancy. The Bible does not appear ever to claim inerrancy for itself, at least in set terms, though evangelicals have usually thought that this or something like it is implied by what Scripture does say. Who will venture a guess? Read more

The Church in the Present Tense By Kevin Corcoran, Scot McKnight, Peter Rollins, & Jason Clark Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2011. Guest Post by Rev. Cameron West. “I’ve read Church in the Present Tense. And I liked it. But the title is wrong. It should be called Tense in the Present Church.” – the inimitable Kim Fabricius The book delivers, however, on what it promises in the subtitle: “a candid look at what’s emerging”. This represents both the strengths and weaknesses... Read more

In the last two days, I’ve been in Prague, London and New York City. Not something you do often. On August 8th, on our last day in the Czech Republic, I spent an amazing day in city of Prague. I was particularly interested in sites related to Jan Hus. I’ve been a bit infatuated with his story and the Reformation in the Czech lands in the 14-15 centuries for some time. It was so cool to see Bethlehem Chapel where... Read more

Paul and politics or Paul and empire are the fashionable topics these days. The one text in Romans that says the most about the Roman governing authorities is Rom 13:1-7. Yet this passage is arguably benign in its remarks concerning Romans power. If anything, this text could be said to promote an attitude of submission to the state and complicity with its requirements by Christians. This text has been controversial in its history of reception concerning church state relationships and... Read more

I’ve just completed an English Camp with a team of over 20 from our church. There was a total of 60 plus Czech folks who joined us for us for the camp that began Monday and ended last night. I want to mention one of the most exciting elements of the week for me. Each day of the camp I led a seminar where people could come and ask questions about the Bible, Christian faith and Jesus. The first days... Read more

The Eucharist as Dinner Theatre The Eucharist is the gospel in sight, smell, and taste. The gospel is proclaimed so we know what the elements mean. The drama of the gospel comes alive as we feed on the Christ who saved us by his death, resurrection, and ascension. We are spectators and participants in the Eucharistic drama where Christ is spiritually presented to us and we in turn fellowship with him. But what can we do to heighten our gratitude,... Read more

Presidency and Participation Okay, now let’s get real controversial. I regard the presidency issue as fairly straight forward. Though the developing church restricted Eucharist to presidency by the bishop,[1] if we really believe in the priesthood of all believers, then in theory anyone can stand up and lead the people the Eucharist. In practice though, I would suggest that the only qualifications we make for one to lead communion is that he or she be theologically informed about Eucharist, be... Read more

Blessing of the Meal Let’s start out by asking: what do you get from this meal that you don’t get from anywhere else? What is available at the Lord’s Table that is not on the menu at Sizzler? What is the efficacy and blessing of the Eucharist? Traditionally the Protestant churches have confessed that the Eucharist is a means of grace. Indeed, the question is not whether Eucharist is a means of grace, but how it is a means of... Read more

My buddy Michael W. Pahl has a cute little book called The Beginning and the End: Rereading Genesis’s Stories and Revelation’s Visions (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011). Here’s a good quote from the book: One can almost hear the music swelling majestically as the curtain is opened for this final scene. A new heaven and a new earth emerge from the darkness into the light of center stage, and a city – no, a bride!-appears in the new heaven, floating gracefully... Read more

It’s all About Presence I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie “Monster’s Inc.,” but there is a charming scene where the head monster in the monster energy factory tells one of the scarers that it is “all about presence” (which is how you scare children in order to harvest their scream which the monsters use for energy in Monstropolis). Eucharist is all about presence! The debates about Christ’s presence are not esoteric or needless debates about the mere meaning... Read more