The Evangelical Giveaway 2

January 3, 2006 By Scot McKnight

David Fitch, in his Great Giveaway, first studies how evangelicalism defines “success.” This is, in my estimation, a great place to start a book. Evangelicals, he contends, too often define success by numbers: attendance and baptisms. He contends this is a market-driven and capitalistic definition of success, and that what we need to be measuring is discipleship and lifestyle. He gives a devastating, if imaginary, scenario. The root of this is found in the American commitment to individualism and to... Read more

O Mexico! 5

January 2, 2006 By Scot McKnight

Another sunny day on the beach. Kris and I had our customary three walks, spending half of our time looking out into the ocean and the other half gawking at the things folks do on the beach — like parasailing and skiing and other reckless things. While looking into the ocean we saw three or four dolphins. Most of those doing reckless things stopped to watch the dolphins, which is some kind of parable. Nature is the main attraction. |inline Read more

The Evangelical Giveaway 1

January 2, 2006 By Scot McKnight

David Fitch, in his new book, The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies (Baker, 2005), weighs in in a modern genre of literature: evangelicals vs. evangelicalism. I must begin by saying that I’m both attracted to this title, for we must always be vigilant to follow Jesus as completely as possible, and I do think we have capitulated in ways we are unaware of. But, I’m... Read more

Established for a purpose

January 2, 2006 By Scot McKnight

The psalmist, in 119:73 knows that God’s hands have “firmed him up” — the way the sun is “fixed” in the sky at midday, the way pillars hold up the building, and the way a king has been established on his throne. Why does the psalmist care that God’s hands have firmed him — established him? |inline Read more

O Mexico! 4

January 1, 2006 By Scot McKnight

We’ve had one other New Year’s Eve in Ixtapa, but last night’s was the best. Somehow, someway, and not at all to my credit but all to Kris’, my kids learned to dance. So, when at 10pm the band, Los Cervantes, started revving it up with some great music, my kids and their spouses joined the throng and danced away. They seem to have beat and rhythm, which are the things that keep me from making a fool of myself... Read more

Feliz Año Nuevo! 3

January 1, 2006 By Scot McKnight

Pamplona has the running of the bulls, and Ixtapa has the running of the turtles. No one gets hurt because what they do at one of the hotels is release hundreds of baby turtles who, upon release, act on an instinct to return to the Pacific. A yearly festival here: the turtles lead us into the New Year. Mighty environmental of them. |inline Read more

Shofar Day

January 1, 2006 By Scot McKnight

Here is the official description of the Jewish (agricultural) New Year (Rosh HaShanah), a day that became centrally significant only over time: |inline Read more

O Mexico! 2

December 30, 2005 By Scot McKnight

Kris and I, along with Laura and Mark and Lukas and Annika, got to Ixtapa after a long delay at O’Hare, a smooth flight, and a long delay here at the airport with our bus (some passengers didn’t get their luggage, which we’ve experienced ourselves so we were all “moans” of a psychologist sort when we heard their story). |inline Read more

At the top of my

December 30, 2005 By Scot McKnight

At the top of my list is Allan Bevere’s wonderful post about Harold, who passed away recently, but who is missed. Hark the Harold! His post on the top ten stories is worth weighing in on. Next to Allan’s blog is the new blog by Tom Ward called PurplePastor. This should be some exciting reading. I like this quotation: “Being purple is not a political statement. It’s a pastoral one. It has more to do with the Sermon on the... Read more

On ending a letter with “Blessings”

December 29, 2005 By Scot McKnight

Some years ago I was writing a letter to my good student-friend, Akiva Cohen. He had written to me and closed off with something in Hebrew, so I thought I’d sign off to him in Hebrew. I used the word “berakot” (“blessings”). I liked it. So, from that day on I began signing off all letters with “Blessings.” I had never seen that term before (though I’m not saying I invented it, for surely others use it). But, it was... Read more