It is almost Advent so that means it is time to think about the Good Friday. An odd statement, you might say to yourself, especially if you are a pastor. But in Andrew Purves’s new book, The Crucifixion of Ministry, we are given a tour into the kind of ministry that lasts, a kind of ministry where we surrender our ambitions to the service of Christ. |inline Read more
Very rare is the one in ministry who can “keep up” with what is going on. Some work like dogs to keep up while others hope and then try and then realize they can’t keep up so they give up. Over the years I have made a variety of suggestions — reading a good book in each field each year and the like. Another strategy is that instead of trying to “keep up” (as if knowing the most recent trends... Read more
The second to last section in Colossians Remixed concerns the story of Jesus as a story of suffering — and this, they suggest, provides a foundation for the Colossian Christians to understand their own suffering. |inline Read more
What is the contemporary church blinded to? The fun of this question is that the one who asks it nearly always assumes he or she knows the answer and is privy to something most aren’t. I don’t think it is all harsh on Paul Metzger to suggest that his book Consuming Jesus is making just this claim. He’s in on something that many are missing. What is it? |inline Read more
We’re thinking of going to Italy again. This time we want to visit the Amalfi Coast (Vesuvius, etc). Our big question is transportation: How do we travel? Do we rent a car and drive through Naples? Or … Anyone out there know this kind of trip well? Read more
Scott Hackman and the good folks at One Village Coffee have shaped a missional business of fair trade coffee. Here are their words: “One Village Coffee has partnered with Opportunity International to support micro finance projects in Indonesia. 10% of total Sumatra coffee sales will go to support Opportunity clients in Indonesia. Purchase a bag of our Sumatra coffee today and make a difference in the lives of the poor.” |inline Read more
From the fictional story of Nympha’s trial to a justification of the theology behind that story, Walsh and Keesmaat now turn in Colossians Remixed. |inline Read more
Romans seems to have two kinds of responses today: either it is the book of all books, the book that brought Luther back to life and therefore the book for us, or it is the book to end all books — boring, dusty old piece of theology. If you are in the latter group, I’ve got a book for you. (And if you are in the former group, then this book is also for you — of course, you love... Read more
Our friends, Kent and Phyllis Palmer, have just accepted a call to a church in Milwaukee. Kent was a student of mine way back in my early days at Trinity, took a course of mine on discipleship and he and I have had discussions of that class for more than twenty years now. We have been friends for many years now, and regularly have lunch together. Kent and Phyllis have served tirelessly at the Evangelical Free Church here in Libertyville... Read more
Nympha is on trial, an imaginary trial, as Walsh and Keesmaat dramatically close off their book: Colossians Remixed. She’s been confronted with the “image” of God poem of Colossians 1:15-20, which the magistrates think is subversion of Caesar. |inline Read more
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