Kris and I have rented a small villa looking over the Ligurian Sea (on the Mediterranean Sea) just west of Genoa, and we took the trip last night down the steep roads into Camogli for a dinner on the coast. The Italian folks here cater more to Europeans than Americans, so we’ve encountered our ignorance of Italian up front and center. |inline Read more
Let nothing disturb thee, nothing affright thee; all things are passing, God never changeth! Patient endurance attaineth to all things; who God possesseth in nothing is wanting; alone God sufficeth. [Sign of the cross] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Read more
This summer we will work through Romans — keeping before us the importance of knowing the Bible and understanding this most important of Paul’s letters. I will also blog through some books, and I’m behind on them right now, but the following are in sight: Russell Moore’s The Kingdom of Christ, R. Scott Smith’s Truth and the New Kind of Christian, Michael Horton’s God of Promise, Steve Taylor’s The Out of Bounds Church?, Robert Millet’s A Different Jesus?, and John... Read more
I’ve raved about Jim Martin enough on this Blogs of the Week that most of you probably visit him regularly and don’t need my encouragement. With a new appearance, Jim’s got another great set of posts and this one on listening to what we are saying is a great reminder. |inline Read more
We’ve found another “favorite place” in Italy, but this just might be the best of the favorite places. It is called Bellagio, it is on the northern tip of a mountainous region and penetrates right into the middle of Lake Como (Lago di Como). From here we can see the Swiss Alps, some of which are snow-capped, and we can see a gorgeous lake. |inline Read more
The night or day before we leave for a weekend or a vacation Kris gets herself into a cleaning snit — at least that is what I call it. (Part of it, I’m sure, has to do with having the house ready for the house-sitters.) She sometimes says, “It’s a mother/woman thing.” I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but it is foolproof: sometimes I find her cleaning shelves at 11pm, or scouring the sink, or doing a... Read more
One of the saddest descriptions of Eikons can be found in Romans 1:28-32. Make sure you read it. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, 31 foolish,... Read more
Jonathan Wilson’s For God So Loved the World: A Christology of Disciples came across my desk recently because it has a nice section on atonement theories, arguing as many of us are arguing today, that atonement is a multi-splendored work of God. Well, what I thought I was getting — a nice study of atonement — was actually much more than that. |inline Read more
We leave today (Thursday) for a trip to Italy. Webster, our 13-year old, deaf but very cheery and happy Bichon, was scheduled for the Bichon Bed and Breakfast in our community. Kris, in her desire to make sure he was taken care of, gave him some of our dinner (tilapia bathed in a roasted garlic marinara sauce, with veggies). |inline Read more
My friend Joel Green recommended that I read Ted Peters’ Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society and I’m glad for Joel’s suggestion. This is a really fine theological and soul-ish analysis of sin. There is a pastoral element to the entire book, and it is loaded with story and excellent quotations. What do you think of his spiral into sin? |inline Read more
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