Clearly, a Woman Leader in Paul’s Churches (by Dalaina May)

Last updated on: August 1, 2017 at 3:23 pm By Scot McKnight

Dalaina May lives with her husband, Dan, and four young sons in Southeast Asia where they are involved in local anti-trafficking efforts. When she isn’t working, stepping on Legos, or breaking up light saber fights (in other words, after bedtime), she is usually geeking out on theology or advocating for Christian involvement in social justice issues. Her first novel, Yielded Captive was recently published. Image From Arise Using these biblical texts and the insights of ancient church historians, we can learn about... Read more

Today is the Day

Last updated on: October 6, 2015 at 11:13 am By Scot McKnight

The Heaven Promise: Engaging the Bible’s Truth about Life to Come is now available for purchase and shipping at your local bookstore and on the internet’s bookstores, like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. In this book I offer a grounding of our hope in two major themes in the Bible: (1) God’s promise to make all of creation right and (2) the resurrection of Jesus as the template of our resurrection into the new heavens and new earth. Sometimes folks... Read more

A Three-Tiered Universe – Earth, Heavens, and Seas (RJS)

Last updated on: October 6, 2015 at 6:52 pm By RJS

The second and third chapters of Kyle Greenwood’s new book Scripture and Cosmology: Reading the Bible Between the Ancient World and Modern Science deal with ancient Near Eastern cosmologies and the cosmologies found in Scripture. In these chapters Greenwood argues that the ancient Near Eastern view of the world was intrinsically three-tiered and that Scripture reflects this view. (The image to the right is an ancient Babylonian map of the world, ca. 500 to 700 BC, now in the British... Read more

Recovering Baptism, Changing Baptism

Last updated on: October 5, 2015 at 6:33 am By Scot McKnight

For those for whom it “does” the least, baptism is emphasized the most; for those for whom it “does” the most, it is emphasizes the least. That’s an overstatement: baptists don’t think baptism “does” much (it’s a symbol, not a sacrament; it’s real essence is faith that precedes the water) while infant baptizers think baptism “does” much but often don’t emphasize it enough. My own reading of pastors and theologians today however reveals that baptists are tending toward making more... Read more

Sit, Stand, Walk

Last updated on: October 1, 2015 at 8:11 am By Scot McKnight

Sumathi Reddy: New research is helping medical experts devise formulas for how long a typical office worker should spend sitting and standing. Studies have found that sedentary behavior, including sitting for extended periods, increases the risk for developing dozens of chronic conditions, from cancer and diabetes to cardiovascular disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Some ergonomics experts warn that too much standing also can have negative effects on health, including a greater risk for varicose veins, back and foot problems, and... Read more

Pastors Need Collaboration (by Lauren Visser)

Last updated on: October 5, 2015 at 6:28 am By Scot McKnight

August was an exciting month for me. For the first time, I preached five Sundays in a row! I had prayed through the series for over a month, and I felt called to lead my congregation through the book of Ruth. (For those who immediately know that Ruth only has four chapters, I split chapter four into two weeks.) I planned the music and led the new songs we were teaching. I wrote the calls to worship. I tweaked the... Read more

So Heavenly Minded, No Earthly Good

Last updated on: October 5, 2015 at 6:20 am By Scot McKnight

We perhaps all know the Type, the person who is so heavenly minded they are no earthly good. They don’t seem to care about injustice, they don’t seem to be bothered by tragedies, they are not moved by sex trafficking or AIDS or homelessness or … by anything but their own spiritual life, that of their loved ones, and where they will end up when they die. The solution to this for many has been to (1) deny heaven altogether... Read more

How Much Social Capital do you have at Church? (by Michelle Van Loon)

Last updated on: October 1, 2015 at 8:10 am By Scot McKnight

By Michelle Van Loon: How do you spend your social capital in your church? Have you ever stopped to take stock of your relationships and influence? I’ve found few with positional or social authority in a church ever consider what they possess. Instead, we count what we lack. I’ve known pastors who believe they’re outsiders in their own church. I’ve known members of cliques in a congregation who are tone-deaf to the way in which their closed circle excludes others. Too many of us measure... Read more

AP: The Last Word will not be Violence

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 3:39 pm By Scot McKnight

AP: ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — A pastor whose daughter survived last week’s deadly rampage in a college classroom told his congregation on Sunday that “violence will not have the last word” in this southern Oregon timber town. More than 100 people gathered to hear pastor Randy Scroggins speak at New Beginnings Church of God, including his daughter 18-year-old Lacey, who sat in the front row and wiped away tears. Scroggins said he’s been asked whether he can forgive Christopher Sean... Read more

Those Delicate Jets &#%%s!

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 3:27 pm By Scot McKnight

Cindy Boren: Those New York Jets. They think of everything. Like hiring a sleep specialist in anticipation of their game Sunday in London. Jet lag wasn’t the only basic matter receiving attention, though. The Jets, informed that toilet paper in London was terribly thin, shipped 350 rolls of America’s finest ply-age across the pond, along with other necessities (like cereal). Ben Shpigel of the New York Times told the BBC that shipping the TP, to be used in the team’s hotel and... Read more