Jesus Creed
What comes to mind for you? Read more
What comes to mind for you? Read more
As John Goldingay [Psalms 1] puts it, Psalm 22 weaves in and out of possibility, the efficacy of prayer, the necessity of praising God and the present needs of the psalmist. This is a famous psalm because Jesus quotes from it on the cross when he says the words that open the psalm: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Because this psalm ends on the note of praise, many have suggested that when Jesus said those words he implied... Read more
Where do Evangelical and Protestant church members come from? Are they born into their group or do they convert into this group? This is the question Brad Wright asks and probes in the 4th chap of his excellent new book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media . Here are some basic numbers, and the numbers are what percent are born into that group: Prots 82 RCC 89... Read more
In high school a friend of mine, well known for smoking pot and into other mind-altering substances, invited me to a place where a new Bible study had formed. I was a crew-cut wearing athlete who had never toked up nor even tasted a drop of alcohol of any sort. The rumor was out that this new Bible study was on so I went. When I got there it was patently obvious to me that something was weird: the first thing... Read more
So, once again, I hope you will ponder and pray over sponsoring a child at only 34 dollars per month. Our hope is to use this blog space to urge readers to consider sponsoring a child in Swaziland, a land in desperate need of services like Hope Chest. As of the writing of this post, 19 children have been “adopted” and there are 6 more in need of adoption (but Tom Davis at Hope Chest will find more if we can... Read more
I will never forget the first time I read the Old Testament’s historical books (Genesis — 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah) cover to cover with a Bible atlas. I was in college and I learned so much. The atlas I used, still standing on a shelf of mine, is not the one I use anymore. The reason is that better ones have been produced. My favorite one is by a friend and former colleague, Barry Beitzel. He has a lifetime of... Read more
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird: 50th Anniversary Edition , is 50 years old now. Thanks to my friend, Karen, who posted this link, I’m about to sit down to read the novel again as well as the baffling biography, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee . Harper Lee remains a recluse so anyone who even tries to write her biography has an uphill battle — all the way. Read more
John Mark Hicks, Come to the Table: Revisioning the Lord’s Supper , explores themes of the Eucharist in such a fresh manner. The Table of the Lord should be inclusive. The Table should transcend all cultural, ethnic and gender boundaries. We sit with Christ and it is Christ who invites. We don’t do the inviting. It is his Table, not ours. At this Table the Church visibly demonstrates and testifies to the universal inclusiveness of the gospel and of our Lord. At... Read more
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more
Wolfgang Simson, The House Church Book: Rediscover the Dynamic, Organic, Relational, Viral Community Jesus Started . The only bland thing about Wolfgang Simson’s The House Church Book is the title. From the first page he confronts the reader with a passionate and prophetic call for the Church to return to its biblical and first-century roots of form and expression. Whether you agree with him or not (and you’re likely to find yourself shouting “Amen!” on one page and crying foul... Read more
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