I’ve never been able to keep birthdays straight — not even my own. For years I thought I knew how old I was, but one morning, after criticizing an athlete (whom I knew to be my own age) for claiming he was two years younger than he was, my wife calmly asked me how old I was. I said, “46.” To which she said, “No you’re not. You’re 44.” I gained two years on my life that morning, and realized... Read more
Please, if you are using my old www.jesuscreed.blogspot.com site, “flag” it (top right) and so warn blogger that a porn site is trying to use my old site. Thanks again. Read more
It is pretty easy to get trapped into wondering in what way the followers of Jesus, who are in part listed in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12), are to be like salt and like light. Perhaps like salt we are to be preservatives or to enable purification or to add zest and taste to the meal. Perhaps like light we are to dispel darkness or to shine our lights on the sin of the world. Perhaps so and perhaps not. |inline Read more
Just in case you don’t follow soccer, and I’m happy to say that I’ve never played the game nor do I understand how people can stand around and watch 1-o games … well, just in case, the fierce North Park Vikings are the first team in history to beat the Wheaton Crusaders three times in a row at Wheaton. And the Vikings won the Conference. North Park considers whatever it does a success if it beats Wheaton. If you want... Read more
It is common to ask if the Beatitudes are “entry requirements” or “kingdom blessings”. Are they what we need to do and be or are they sudden revelations of who it is that God is favoring? I see the Beatitudes as the agenda of Jesus, and an in-your-face sudden declaration that the unlikely are the likely and the divested will be invested and the powerless will be powerful and the abused will be the favored. This is nothing short of... Read more
I’ve spent my academic life teaching the Sermon on the Mount in one way or another. Most of those who read the Sermon the Mount (=SoM) see it as the Ethics (or Morals) of Jesus or they classify it as the Discipleship teachings of Jesus. Since redemption and discipleship are often seen as two distinct dimensions to our Christian existence, the SoM becomes the second thing taught and not the first thing taught. Jesus is not obligated to go along... Read more
There never has been a time, to my knowledge, when the Church has been really good at being genuinely boundaryless and borderless and unprejudiced. The mandate of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28 — that in Christ there should be neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, and neither male nor female — has never really become customary for the Church. There are other borders, too, that are just as impenetrable — theological ones and cultural ones and political... Read more
Our Sunday morning service at Mercer Island Covenant Church was eventful. It was All Saints’ Day and Pastor Greg Asimakoupolos wrote a wonderful Litany about All Saints in preparation for the eucharist. And the highlight for both Kris and me was the slide show of the saints from that church who had passed this year. There were plenty of oohs and ahs when some saw their friends on the screen. We have never seen this happen, so let me suggest... Read more
Paraclete Press and Mercer Island Covenant Church combined to orchestrate a wonderful day for Kris and me in launching Embracing Grace. It rained like an English winter, but we had about 40 people. A nice light lunch, plenty of good coffee, and lots of chat. I’m one who is constantly amazed by the work pastors have to do and what they seem to accomplish with all the demands on their time, so to see so many there means a lot.... Read more
First, and foremost, a blogger put me on to this site: Kari and Aaron are going through very difficult times. The whole story can be found here. We need to pray for them. And for Kyle Lake’s family and loved ones: see Brian McLaren’s tribute. |inline Read more
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