“How do you get on the side of Jesus and his secret kingdom?” Or, what if a modern person wants to follow Jesus, “What do you do?” How do you move from “egotism, racism, consumerism, hedonism, and its associated –isms to the expansive kingdom of God (in which, we might say, all those -isms are to become –was-ms)?” |inline Read more
I speak for myself, but by the time I have finished a writing project my desk has gotten so cluttered it embarrasses me. The first thing I do after I print out the manuscript or send off the electronic versions to the editors and publisher is to clean off the stacks of books. Here is my desk in the final phase of writing. By the end of May it will be even worse. The speculative sorts will begin to read... Read more
What a marvelous prayer from The Book of Common Prayer. The sort of prayer I hope Praying with the Church can lead us into. As always, read slowly and aloud and it takes us into God’s presence: |inline Read more
Amidst the whorl and whirl of grading, examining, reading papers, dealing with excuses, preparing for graduation, and turning in grades, this is also the week we say our goodbyes to students. At several levels: |inline Read more
The 9th chp in Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus concerns global mission. He properly sets the Christian mission in the Jewish context where there was no active mission. McLaren ties the global mission of Jesus to the blessing of Abraham (Gen. 12:4): God’s people are to be a blessing to the nations. Here is an emerging statement about mission: What do you think of Brian’s various proposals that follow? |inline Read more
I have been interested in conversion for a long time, so I am thrilled that Paraclete has now come out with an updated version of one of my all-time classics, the original Christian conversion story, Augustine’s Confessions. |inline Read more
Kris and I got into American Idol tonight. Four wonderful singers. Hope you vote, both on the phone and on this blog. Read more
The second section of Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus is called “Engagement” and Brian investigates the meaning of kingdom. Today we look at what he says about Jesus’ communicative style via parables, miracles, and exorcisms. While the book is an exploration of the meaning of kingdom for Jesus, the book also sets the agenda (so I think) for what McLaren himself believes. At some level, this book is Brian’s credo. (“I believe in the kingdom of God as... Read more
Wednesday night, 8pm CDT, I will be at TLN studio for a 1.5 hour live interview about The DaVinci Code. I’m not sure who will be in the studio, but I know they will also be talking to Josh McDowell, the art historian Doug Adams, and the Mary Magdalene devotee, Margaret Starbird. Read more
What is the best (story-wise) excuse you’ve had from a student for why he or she can’t turn something in on time or come to class? |inline Read more
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