I had the rare opportunity to get to preach about the life of Mary, who is “one of us,” last weekend in Westerville OH, just outside Columbus, at Heritage Christian Church. It was Valentine’s Day, plenty of people were wearing red, but I wasn’t convinced it was as much that as it was Ohio State Buckeye red — and on a weekend when the Buckeyes thrashed the Illini in basketball. Anyway… When I wrote The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians... Read more
Recently I found this piece on BBC News, and think we could have a conversation. What did you want to do when you were eleven? (I wanted to be a professional athlete, but the sport changed from season to season. I didn’t get there, or even close!) Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up – and have you achieved it? A study run over the past 50 years has tested what helps childhood aspirations become... Read more
Paul’s passion is for everyone to see the light of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ, and that means even Festus is in his circle of compassionate gospel preaching. Festus thinks Paul’s lost his mind with his belief in the resurrection as a gospel fully conversant with the Jewish Scriptures. But Paul asks him if he believes the Scriptures. Festus wonders aloud if Paul might not be trying to convert him right then and there, and so he... Read more
Reading the Bible is both easier than ever before, because of all the resources available, and more complex, because of all the resources available. One could argue that the oldest method of Bible reading is now back on the front burner, and the method can be called the “theological interpretation of Scripture.” In the last few years I’ve read a number of books on this topic, and I can’t say that anyone is defining it clearly enough to gain a... Read more
I thought this question answer in Leadership.net with Rob Bell was fascinating. Here’s my question: What do you think of video clips in sermons? Interview with Rob Bell…. Your NOOMA video series has been popular. What do you think about the increasing number of preachers and churches using video technology to expand their reach? It’s powerful but there’s also a dark side. Video is not church. You put images and music on a screen, and people will listen. But it’s... Read more
The (re)founder of the Iona Community was George Macleod, and I recently read a splendid biography of him (George MacLeod: Founder of the Iona Community – A Biography ). So inspired was I by his story, a story of someone who battled and battled and got things done but never got as much done as he’d have liked, a story of someone who worked to combine a genuine spiritual salvation with a social redemption, and someone who was known in... Read more
Just in case you aren’t aware, Paraclete now has 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed up on an e-mail subscription here, and you can get a taste of it from the YouTube video below. If you want the book, you can find it here: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed . Read more
There has been so much interest in this new Psalter, we’re posting this post again. I knew it would eventually be done, and it has: Paraclete has produced a beautiful NIV Psalter called: The Paraclete Psalter: A 4-Week Cycle for Daily Prayer . I have used for years The Book of Common Prayer , and have an old copy with Coverdale’s translation. But we need an NIV Psalter, and now it’s available. Paraclete designed this Psalter to be used either... Read more
This from Rob Bell’s interview at Leadership: There’s a lot of emphasis today on practical preaching, helping people address their felt-needs, and giving direct application. Is that foremost in your mind when you prepare a message? When I prepare to teach a text there are a few questions I always ask. First, “What’s the thing behind the thing?” and “What’s the truth behind the truth?” So if we’re talking about tithing, we’re really talking about generosity and participation. And if... Read more
Paul gets to tell his story, and he tells his story in a way that shows he’s a faithful Jew, that what he believes is Jewish, that resurrection is central to Jewish hope, and that the Jewish God has called him to preach the gospel to Gentiles. Notice once again that “hope” and “resurrection” are the same thing: it’s all about the resurrection of Jesus for Paul’s hope and gospel. But notice this, too: for Paul, his mission to the... Read more
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