My sermon from this morning – a summary of the story of Jacob and Esau from their birth to their reunion after Jacob’s decades away – is now available at newchurchaudio.org, here. And I figured out how to post the children’s talk and lessons as separate audio files! It’s the little things. Read more
Audio for the sermon I preached on Sunday at the Dawson Creek Church of the New Jerusalem in Dawson Creek, BC can be found here. The audio there includes readings, but leaves out a key one that was included in the children’s talk; it is Genesis 32:24-30: 24And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the dawn came up. 25And he saw that he prevailed not over him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh, and... Read more
This post is part of the Patheos Book Club roundtable discussion of The Core of Johnny Appleseed: The Unknown Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer by Ray Silverman. When I heard that Ray Silverman (a former professor of mine at Bryn Athyn College) was publishing a book on Johnny Appleseed (or John Chapman, his real name), I have to admit that my first thought was, “Oh no – another one?” Maybe I’m hyper-aware of this as a Swedenborgian – since Johnny Appleseed... Read more
This post is part of the Patheos Book Club roundtable discussion of Ghost Brother Angel by Grant Schnarr. On my to Bryn Athyn, PA, to visit my family with Anne! I’m sitting on a plane as I type this, and I just finished reading Grant Schnarr’s new book, Ghost Brother Angel. Although there are descriptions of strange and possibly paranormal experiences, it is first and foremost a book about family – and in particular, it’s about Grant’s family. As such it hit... Read more
Are there marriages in heaven? The most obvious answer would seem to be no, based on Jesus’ words to the Sadducees as recorded in Luke 20:27-38, Matthew 22:23-32, and Mark 12:18-27. Here’s the Luke account: But certain of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if someone’s brother die having a wife, and he die childless, that his brother should take his wife, and raise... Read more
You may have noticed that posting has been light (i.e. non-existent) on this blog for the last month and a half. Of course, with this blog that’s not an unheard of occurrence, but this time there’s a very good reason for it. At the beginning of August I flew to Singapore to visit my girlfriend, Anne Grace, whom I hadn’t seen in person since December. A few days after arriving I proposed – and she said yes! We spent the next... Read more
Lots of mainstream, even conservative, Christian scholars advocate reading Genesis 1-11 as something deeper than a literal account of the physical world. But if it's not about the creation of the physical world - then what IS it about? A better question might be, WHO is it about? Read more
I hate study Bibles. Why? Same reason I hated textbooks in high school: an authoritative editorial voice that states interpretation as fact and leaves little room for dissenting voices. Read more
Right now, I have access to only one thorough, scholarly Bible commentary series: the Word Biblical Commentary, published by Thomas Nelson. I love these commentaries, but unfortunately, several volumes are still in the process of being written – including the volumes on Acts. With these chapters, Acts 6-7, I really missed that kind of commentary. I’ve scoured the internet for the free resources available there – with some success – but I miss the even-handed presentation of multiple points of... Read more
The Primacy of Jesus’s Resurrection Acts 4 and 5 continue to describe the ramifications of Peter’s healing in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter again lays out the gospel, and again, the focus is not so much on Jesus’s death as it is on His resurrection and continuing power. Acts 4:10 again describes Jesus’s death as being the fault of the Jewish leaders, and His resurrection being by God. Acts 4:27-28 does place this in the context of God’s... Read more
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