Christmas meant Missional Transformation: Luke 1:76-79 John (Yohanan)’s task is clear: Zechariah tells him, at his birth, that he is to be a prophet who will prepare the way for Someone Else – the Messiah. John’s life is a life for Another: here is a prophet who, simply because he was a prophet, ought to be given some consideration for heroism, but the words of Zechariah are all shaped to give John a missional life – a life shaped by... Read more
Christmas meant Missional Transformation: Luke 1:76-79 John (Yohanan)’s task is clear: Zechariah tells him, at his birth, that he is to be a prophet who will prepare the way for Someone Else – the Messiah. John’s life is a life for Another: here is a prophet who, simply because he was a prophet, ought to be given some consideration for heroism, but the words of Zechariah are all shaped to give John a missional life – a life shaped by... Read more
This, from the BCP, and in The Divine Hours today: Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the... Read more
This, from the BCP, and in The Divine Hours today: Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the... Read more
Christmas meant Liberation Praise: Luke 1:68-75 Like many of his day, no one perhaps more than the pious priests, Zechariah longed for the day when the Roman occupation of the Land of Israel would end. Some scholars today are nervous about overdoing the Roman “occupation” of the Land, but Rome ruled the entire Roman empire and that meant that it was in control of the Land and the Temple – even if Jews were left to manage it for themselves.... Read more
Evangelicals define different parts of the Church by theology. The Emerging Movement is not cooperating, and hence Evangelicals are doing what they can to get it to — and the tug of war will continue until one of two things happen. Either Evangelicals will let the EM define itself as a praxis or the EM will offer a definition of its theology. I sense some resistance at both ends — the EM likes it liminality on the issue of “its... Read more
Along with most of you, I am occasionally — perhaps three times per week — interrupted in my reading and writing by someone who calls our number to sell me something I haven’t expressed interest in or to ask me to participate in some poll. Kris has this stuff all figured out, and she knows how to report numbers of companies who are doing what they’re not supposed to be doing. I don’t know quite what to do. We have... Read more
Along with most of you, I am occasionally — perhaps three times per week — interrupted in my reading and writing by someone who calls our number to sell me something I haven’t expressed interest in or to ask me to participate in some poll. Kris has this stuff all figured out, and she knows how to report numbers of companies who are doing what they’re not supposed to be doing. I don’t know quite what to do. We have... Read more
Christmas meant a New Name for a baby: Luke 1:57-66 The neighbors were thrilled for Elizabeth (they do not mention Zechariah), and they understood her pregnancy and birth as the “great mercy” of the Lord. On the day of circumcision, the name is to be given – and the inevitable, traditional, customary, time-without-end practice of naming a boy after his father was suddenly interrupted by a word, once again, from Elizabeth. Zechariah is still silenced. |inline Read more
The following is a slightly-adapted set of questions I used for a discussion with two others at Willow Creek Community Church’s TruthQuest event last spring. My responsibility was to take the pacifist side. I took the tack of asking questions, and I include here the outline I used that night. Some of the questions are more penetrating than others, but together they ask (for me) the right questions. This is an outline, not a full discussion. In light of my... Read more
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