From HuffPo, simplistic to be sure, but how do you respond to these comments of his? That’s why I am always puzzled by how people who claim to be followers of the Jesus I read about in the Bible can be political conservatives…. Conservative Christians’ primary argument regarding Jesus and politics is that all he cared about was spiritual matters and an individual’s relationship with God. As a result, they say, all those references from Jesus about helping the poor... Read more

Ron Highfield’s new book, Great Is the Lord: Theology for the Praise of God , probes in chp 3 “What fools don’t know: the existence of God.” Here we will find a good discussion of the existence of God that refuses — and I don’t see this very often — to let the existence question become simply and only rational argument with conclusion that God “does” exist or God “doesn’t” exist. Instead, through it all Highfield argues that natural theology is not enough... Read more

The Amish are perhaps the most successful when it comes to business. Here’s a clip from a recent article: (CNNMoney.com) — Want to find America’s most successful entrepreneurs? Skip Silicon Valley and Manhattan; head to the rural Amish enclaves. Amish businesses have an eye-popping 95% success rate at staying open at least five years, according to author Erik Wesner’s new book, Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive. It’s a statistic he backs up with a variety... Read more

Both of our companions, John Goldingay’s commentary (Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms) and Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary , translate Psalm 14:1 with “scoundrel.” We looked at that idea yesterday. Today we explore the rest of the psalm. But David’s psalm is not so much dissection of who’s in and who’s out, though he clearly thinks he’s in (as Goldingay observes), as an opining over the lack of integrity... Read more

One of the songs I liked the most on Derek Webb’s album, Mockingbird is the song about the kingdom. To whom do we pledge allegiance?  Let us say that there is a both-and as citizens, but do we reflect on how hard it is to maintain a true balance?  Webb’s words bite because there’s anger and satire in them. But he’s got something to say. Are we listening?  Here are Webb’s lyrics. Any thoughts?  Lyrics to A King & A Kingdom :(vs.... Read more

One of the songs I liked the most on Derek Webb’s album, Mockingbird is the song about the kingdom. To whom do we pledge allegiance?  Let us say that there is a both-and as citizens, but do we reflect on how hard it is to maintain a true balance?  Webb’s words bite because there’s anger and satire in them. But he’s got something to say. Are we listening?  Here are Webb’s lyrics. Any thoughts?  Lyrics to A King & A Kingdom :(vs.... Read more

Kris and I are happy to announce that a few more children in Mabanteneni have recently been adopted/sponsored (at $34 per month), and we are pleased as we can be. 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, 15 children have been “adopted” and there are 10 more in need of adoption.  Please... Read more