Kris and I were in Ephrata PA last Friday and Saturday at New Joy Church. It’s in Lancaster County, which means the Amish. We loved the small farms and the rolling hills.  I was speaking to a regional meeting of the Brethren in Christ church leaders. We loved our time, and found (as we often do) some new friends. Nathan Yoder was our host, and he’s a young mature leader — it was very encouraging to Kris and to me... Read more

Psalm 2 [after jump], according to John Goldingay, would also be at home in one of the prophets (Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms) ). But it’s now part of the double-psalm introduction to the Psalms. If Psalm 1 ends with the wicked’s path perishing, Psalm 2 [see bracket] ends with the nations perishing with regard to the path. Psalm 1 begins with blessing, Psalm 2 ends with blessing. God’s people will... Read more

The Washington Post’s “On Faith” discussion is about heaven. Quite the discussion. What do you believe about heaven? Whose view below is most like yours?  From Daisy Khan, a Muslim: “For me, perhaps the most profound beauty of Heaven is its plurality and diversity of people. Heaven is dar al-salaam, the ultimate safe haven. It’s a place for all those who have done good deeds – men and women, adults and children, Muslims and non-Muslims, peoples of all nationalities and... Read more

I’m really enjoying the new book, The Loser Letters , by Mary Eberstadt. It’s fiction; it’s satire; it’s the attempt by a recent atheist convert to explain the problems of atheism to the upper level echelon of new atheists.  One of the elements I’ve observed is that atheists tend to be much better at deconstructing religious faith than they are are responding to criticisms of their beliefs/convictions. But critique of another’s ideas doesn’t establish one’s own. When theists put atheists into a... Read more

From CNN.com. What’s your advice? What chocolate should we purchase? Compared with people who rarely ate chocolate (about one bar per month), the people who ate the most chocolate (slightly more than one bar per week) had a 27 percent and 48 percent reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, respectively, the researchers found…. OK, we need to be careful, but just sayin’, the stuff’s good for you. Amen. “This is only one small egg per day,” says Buijsse. “Eating... Read more

Eugene Peterson, in his new book, Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ  explores the church in the book of Ephesians, and it’s a great week to ponder his thoughts and these questions. Questions of the Day: Think about your local community … What do you see when you observe the Church? What do you think God sees? What do you think Christ wants us to see? Chp 7 explores Ephesians 3:1-13, the manifold wisdom of God at work in the... Read more

Psalm 1 is a poem that promises the obedient will flourish. It urges the reader to seek God’s blessing of flourishing by promising blessing and warning the wicked of being blown away (v. 4). Like chaff, the wicked are blown away. The wicked are in contrast to those who obey; hence they are the disobedient. What they obey (or don’t obey) are the Lord’s commands, which amounts to the Torah. The wicked will not stand in the judgment of God;... Read more

The newest Barna Study examines American Christians and their relationship to the charismatic movement. There is at least one alarming element in this study, but here are some major conclusions: Do the following match your experience locally? What are you seeing in the charismatic movement? (Is this an “issue” anymore? Why or why not?) Some of it is youth and age… Christians aligned with the two youngest generations – the Mosaics (56%) and Busters (49%) – were more likely than... Read more

 Read more