Here is a fascinating new Barna study. How true is this to your experience? (Any suggestions about how to measure “orthodox biblical response”?) “On all 9 of the belief statements tested, attenders of large churches were more likely than those engaged in a small or mid-sized congregation to give an orthodox biblical response – e.g., the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches, Satan is not merely symbolic but exists, Jesus led a sinless life, God is... Read more
In a year or two Kris and I will be purchasing a car, and this new Chevy Volt, which is now rated at 230 MPG (!), might just be the ticket. Anyone know anything about it? What do you think? Read more
The earliest followers of Jesus are empowered by God’s Spirit — we dare not forget that “Pentecost” is an act of God — to declare the wonders of God in languages they did not know (Acts 2:1-13). Event is followed by interpretation — and the interpretation is given by Peter who explains what is happening by appealing to Scripture. His observations: the tongue-speaking is not as a result of wine-drinking; it is instead the act of God and this act... Read more
Yet another academic year approaches – yet another set of fresh new faces on campus. As we approach a the start of term I would like to renew the conversation on campus ministry we began last spring (You can find my initial salvo here). As many here know I am a professor, at a large secular University, not a Christian college, and have been involved in academia for some 28 years as a graduate student, post-doc and professor. There is... Read more
David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines the foundation upon which the new atheism rests its case. In a word, new atheism stands on modernity. Hart throws sharp punches: “There is,” he claims, “no serious science in Dennett’s ‘science of religion’; and there is no genuine moral cogitation or rigorous reflection in any of the moral indictments of religion advanced by him or his fellow ‘New Atheists'” (19). Do... Read more
Yet one more witty definition from Adrian Plass, Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation: A Humorous Antidote for the Pharisee in All of Us : King James Version: form in which the Bible was originally written in seventeenth-century English. Later translated into Hebrew and Greek for some obscure reason and then tranlsated back again into those ridiculous modern English versions. Read more
My morning routine on days we are home: wake up around 5:30am, shower etc, stroll into the kitchen, turn on the coffee machine and put coffee in the portafilter, put some yogurt and oats in a small bowl, pick up my cell phone (iPhone), and wander to the back porch where I open up my computer and check e-mail and FB and Twitter and then my morning prayers. (Kris and I chat about our day, too.) Ten years ago things... Read more
In our first post of the day I mentioned a few of Adrian Plass’s funny definitions in Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation: A Humorous Antidote for the Pharisee in All of Us and here’s another: My Bible says … : oddly possessive prelude to disagreeing with someone else’s interpretation of Scripture. One more. Parables: stories that entertain you at the front door while the truth slips in through a side window and sandbags you from behind. Read more
We are looking at the Book of Acts, and we are looking at Acts through the lens of “mission,” and we are looking at the Book of Acts with the help of Beverly Gaventa’s commentary on Acts (The Acts of the Apostles (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries) ). We are in Acts 2, the Story of Pentecost. The Story is the Story of God acting through the Holy Spirit to empower God’s people for mission. Our text today is Acts 2:5-13:... Read more
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Pastor’s Bookshelf: Hebrews
We don’t know who wrote Hebrews, but it surely wasn’t Paul even though some still contend he did. Anyway, no major commentary today argues that Paul wrote it, and these are the major ones I turn to … and, once again, there is an abundance of really fine commentaries. No one can suggest we are in serious need of a good commentary on Hebrews. I’m sure I’ve missed some good ones, so speak up if you think I have. I... Read more