First Sunday in Lent Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more
On March 1st I speak at the Shift Conference at Willow, and then we fly that night to Portland for a nice event called Crossing Borders on developing missional churches. |inline Read more
Dale Berra, son of the famous Yogi Berra, was regularly compared to his father. Once he observed, “Our similarities our different.” (And who was on the AFLAC commercial?) Sounds like his dad’s famous “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” Max Apple, in the Houston Post, said, “Pitching really is like writing. How your arm feels. Change that to imagination and you have writing.” (Come again? O, I get it, Max was a pitcher.) Read more
Spiritual disciplines, normally taken to be individualistic disciplines, are given a new boost by Darryl Tippens in his new book, Pilgrim Heart. How so? Disciplines are also needed to promote an ecclesial spirituality — disciplines that create community. It is easy to say daily that we are to love others as ourselves; hospitality puts legs on love. Hospitality is the subject of the 4th chp. Now a story… |inline Read more
1. Beate Epp, one of our readers and occasional commenter (and artist), has a nice book for kids on horses: I gave the book to a friend whose daughter loves horses. Here is her comment: “A charming story, perfect for reading to little ones at bedtime. It will be enjoyed equally by the reader as well as the listener.” |inline Read more
The sixth word for Torah in this section of Psalm 119 is “decrees” (huqqim), words of binding force and permanence — inscribed forever now that they are written in the Torah. Commitment to such permanence brings the psalmist the sense that his own commitment brings the good pleasure of God. |inline Read more
Dear Matt, I agree with you. The Church is sometimes too critical, too judgmental, and sometimes known too much for what it is against than what is for. And I agree that sometimes perfectly wonderful people — friends and family members — can become Christians and then become snooty. They can then convert their sense of God’s grace into a private grace that others are just not worthy of. And, yes, I also agree that for all the talk about... Read more
Scot, Not sure if you are much of a movie goer, but a friend and I just went to see the movie Breach and there is a section in the movie where the main characters are in a catholic bookstore. As they are talking, they pan in on one of the bookshelves and there sits your book, Jesus Creed. I hear the new thing in advertising is product placement…even better when its free! If you see a jump in sales... Read more
Psalm 119:133-134 uses two more words for the Torah: promises (imra) and precepts (piqud). Imra can mean “word” but “promissory word” is a little better. Implications are obvious: Torah is promissory word and preceptual word in order to guide the behavior of God’s people. |inline Read more
In teaching this course on Women, Mary, and Jesus, I have been working my way through some crucial texts as the biblical and historical context for what we read about Mary and about women in the earliest churches. Here’s a thought that keeps coming back to me: How biblical are our churches when it come to what women can do? |inline Read more
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