Jesus Creed
This picture, from the days of my master’s degree, proves that I had a full head of hair. (Laura at 19 months.) |inline Read more
This picture, from the days of my master’s degree, proves that I had a full head of hair. (Laura at 19 months.) |inline Read more
Americans agree: It’s ‘Merry Christmas’ Reuters Posted Friday, December 08, 2006 Americans are ready to put “Merry Christmas” back into holiday shopping, a new poll shows. The majority of Americans surveyed — 95 percent — said they were not offended by a “Merry Christmas” greeting in stores, according to a poll by Zogby International. |inline Read more
Tony Swift’s reflection (straight from the heart) about leadership. New blog: John LaGrou at Microclesia. |inline Read more
If you have either visited the Holocaust Museum or read any of the many works of Elie Wiesel — like Night — you will know one word pushes itself to the front of his vision: Remember! Remember the Holocaust is his mantra. In Miroslav Volf’s brilliant new book, The End of Memory, Volf both renews and extends — if he does not also challenge — the vision of Wiesel. |inline Read more
Perhaps America’s most prized possession is freedom. We call it “liberalism.” Stanley Hauerwas contends that “liberalism is a political philosophy committed to … a social order and … government … formed on self-interest and consent.” Notice those two terms: self-interest and consent. Nothing threatens us more than those two terms. Not that I don’t value them, but … |inline Read more
Psalm 119:45 and 47 are delightful lines: “I will walk about at ease” and “I will delight in Your commandments.” That first line is evocative. |inline Read more
Here is Richard Dawkins’ essential thesis: “any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to design anything [the God hypothesis], comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution” (The God Delusion, 31). And the God of the Old Testament, according to Dawkins, is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction. |inline Read more
M and W night I was at Reclaiming the Mind for a lecture and discussion about The Real Mary. I suspect I’ll be talking about Mary for years because of this research I’ve done, but I’m beginning to hear some pretty common questions — like this one: Are you afraid that if we begin to talk about Mary we will stop talking about Jesus? Or, does discussion of Mary lead inevitably to too much devotion to Mary? |inline Read more
Psalm 119:44-48 is an interplay between “going public” about commitment to Torah and the joy that comes from that Torah. The going public can be found in vv. 44, 46, 48, and the joy in vv. 45 and 47. Today “going public”; tomorrow the “joy.” |inline Read more
Growing out of the Reformation is the contention that there are “two marks” of the Church: the Lord’s supper and preaching of the Word: Word and Sacrament. Some added “church discipline” as a third mark. The Catholic tradition has been “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” I wonder what you see as the necessary and sufficient “marks” of the church? A question that I’m sometimes asked is this one — and I’m interested in your answer: If the Lord’s Supper is... Read more
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