Do you practice confession? Do you know the power of forgiveness and grace and reconciliation? Why are these terms so challenging? This is what Dean Nelson in God Hides in Plain Sight: How to See the Sacred in a Chaotic World explores the theme of confession and reconciliation and forgiveness, beginning with a movie I’ve never heard of and then exploring his own need to forgive the fundamentalist college he attended in college. He still has friends from that college. One... Read more
Our friend, L.L. Barkat, was inspired to reflect on Mary and it led to her thinking it would be good to give a copy of our Mary book (The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus ) away, and then she decided to open up comments on her blog to reflections on Mary … Well, it almost got out of hand and folks were adding reflections from all over. There are links at the links following... Read more
Peter’s gospel, inspired as it was by God’s revelation that all humans are on the same plane, results in a Spirit-inspired response: 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message. 10:45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,10:47 “No one can withhold the... Read more
[We’ve added the captcha text because we were bombarded by a spammer Monday. We hope the captcha text will disappear with the spammer soon.] Last week I posted a question by a reader asking about categories of biblical literature and their “wooden historicity”. There was another aspect to the comment though, and another question well worth consideration. The original comment continued… Speaking of that RJS, this reminds me of something that you’ve said before in response to my question on... Read more
[We’ve added the captcha text because we were bombarded by a spammer Monday. We hope the captcha text will disappear with the spammer soon.] This post finishes off our review of Jim Belcher’s book, which raises many of the pertinent issues, though I’d like to see a “deep church” approach to theology and language. But, still, good book and I’m grateful for the good discussions this book generated. I want to announce a new series I will begin next Tuesday... Read more
Kris and I were visiting Lukas and Annika recently and we frequented Sapore, the local coffee shop. Sitting there got me to thinking about all the good coffee shops — not chains — local folks visit, and how hard those baristas work to produce a nice cup of latte or coffee for us. Who wants to comment about their favorite? Which of their coffees do you like? Why? What has that coffee shop meant to you? Have you ever been... Read more
Peter’s message reshaped the Church to expand it to its universal proportions: Acts 10:37 …. you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him. 10:39We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They... Read more
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” This injunction is mentioned once in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18) and seven times in the New Testament (Matt. 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8) It is the core Christian ethic for relating to others. The antithesis of loving others is selfishness. A central element of market economies is self-interest. Self-interest was a central component of Adam Smith’s market economics two hundred years ago and has carried forward to... Read more
How can meals become places to see the presence of God? This is what Dean Nelson in God Hides in Plain Sight: How to See the Sacred in a Chaotic World explores in chp 2 of his new book. A Belgian couple found it difficult to eat in America — everyone was in such a hurry. He tells great stories about his grandma and Tony Campolo. Do you need to slow down your meals and make an evening of them? Are... Read more
In light of Jim Belcher’s response to Doug Pagitt’s own proposal for “progressional dialogue,” I want to weigh in with what I suggest is my own proposal for a Third Way. I have been in contact with a few persons who wanted to know what I thought about Belcher’s response to Pagitt so here goes… First this: I will critique both Belcher and Pagitt for what they have not said, and I infer from what they have not said to the... Read more
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