From Allan Bevere: Advent and Christmas– Putting Christ the King in Context This past Sunday was Christ the King Sunday (also called the Reign of Christ). It is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, which begins anew this Sunday with the season of Advent. When the New Testament proclaims that Jesus is Lord, it is not simply an affirmation that Jesus reigns in our individual hearts and lives; it is a radical political claim meant to put the nations... Read more

Human freedom, constrained only loosely by the caveat “do no harm,” seems the rallying cry of much of Western (especially North American) civilization. Tim Keller, in his new book Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical, tackles the issue of freedom.  The Western ideal of individual freedom has brought both gain and loss.  Keller notes: “the ideal of individual freedom in Western society has done incalculable good.  It has led to a far more just and fair society... Read more

By Leslie Leyland Fields I’m taking a holiday from the media and the news these next two weeks. You will not find cynicism here. Or hate or despair. This week, grateful tidings and a call to a Revolution. It begins here. The best Giving-Thanks meal I ever had was in a kitchen in El Salvador, the kind with dirt floors and a wood fire and plastic chairs. *Anna was not who I expected. Neither was her husband *Alberto. I had... Read more

Christian Smith, in his must-read and challenging book, Bible Made Impossible, The: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, contends that what many of us (evangelicals) affirm is impossible to hold with intellectual integrity. He calls this belief “biblicism,” and if you want to read what it is read this post. The fundamental problem that undercuts biblicism as a sufficient basis for articulating the Christian faith is interpretive pluralism. That’s the big idea. Smith is an excellent... Read more

Rebecca Kotz, from Arise: Kotz is an unashamed radical feminist and lover of Jesus. She is an advocate and counselor in Minnesota for sexually-exploited/trafficked women. She is passionate about speaking to women and men on healthy relationships, rape culture, pornography, and preventing men’s violence. She loves documentaries, devouring books, debating politics, and biking with her husband. Find more of her writing at www.rebeccakotz.webs.com. In the last few years, it has become popular for people (especially celebrities) to identify as “feminists” on... Read more

The Gift of Context in Worship, By Michelle Van Loon www.MomentsAndDays.org and www.MichelleVanLoon.com One of many gifts my Jewish identity offered to me was the deep conviction that the Old Testament and New Testament were a single, seamless narrative revealing God’s perfect nature and redemptive work among his created, beloved image-bearers. Though few Gentile Christians would disagree with that sentiment, I’ve learned many have a conflicted relationship with the first 75% or so of the pages in their Bibles. While this statement reflects... Read more

Christian Smith, in his new book, Bible Made Impossible, The: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, contends that what many of us (evangelicals) affirm is impossible to hold with intellectual integrity. He calls this belief “biblicism,” and if you want to read what it is see our last post. The fundamental problem that undercuts biblicism as a sufficient basis for articulating the Christian faith is interpretive pluralism. Smith sketched that problem in the first chp but... Read more

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more

The garden of FLOTUS will be kept: There are certain to be many changes with the incoming administration. But one thing we don’t have to worry about is Michelle Obama’s White House vegetable garden. The First Lady’s garden was planted in March 2009 on the South Lawn. She hadn’t yet launched her campaign to improve nutrition in schools. Therefore, it’s easy to see the garden as a precursor to her future endeavors. As you might know, the produce from the... Read more

By John Frye Scot McKnight introduced us recently to a new work by John Goldingay in a post titled “Systematic vs. Biblical Theology.” As I read the post and the comments that followed, I remembered a story that Eugene H. Peterson wrote to “Gunnar,” a composite person in The Wisdom of Each Other: A Conversation Between Spiritual Friends. The context of the “letter” to Gunnar was the arrival of Herman, an assigned seminary intern, into Gunnar’s home Bible study group.... Read more