O God, Whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; Who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, One God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
From Billy Sunday, who in a revival sermon used a long-listed set of terms for communism and its communist leaders they were seeing in proponents for labor unions: Billy Sunday claimed that “weasel-eyed, hog-jowled, good-for-nothing, God-forsaken, iniquitous, rapacious buffoons and charlatans, and mountebanks and poltroons and marplots and moral perverts” had deceived the working class. No one could ever say Billy Sunday’s gospel wasn’t tinged just a bit with some political theories and nationalism. From M.A. Sutton, American Apocalypse, 188. Read more
CNN: Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)A 7.8 magnitude earthquake centered less than 50 miles from Kathmandu rocked Nepal with devastating force Saturday, toppling homes, temples and historic buildings and leaving at least 1,457 people dead, authorities said. Afterward, whole streets and squares in the nation’s capital and largest city were covered in rubble. The injured wound up being treated outside hospitals in chaotic scenes. Residents, terrorized by a seemingly endless series of aftershocks, huddled outdoors for safety. The death toll was reported... Read more
April 22 and 23 I was down at Lipscomb University at the sponsorship of Missio Alliance and Lipscomb’s fine Bible and theology department in the Hazelip School of Theology for an evening discussion of A Fellowship of Differents, and then a double morning session on Kingdom Conspiracy. The two sessions on the 23d featured a panel discussion with Lipscomb and Churches of Christ folks — Lee Camp, Rubel Shelly, Alicia Griffin and Dave Clayton. (No one, you may know, gets anything exegetical, biblical... Read more
Men vs. women on friends or one friend, by A. Pawlowski: When things get tough, do you turn to your BFF or a coalition of buddies for emotional support? Making friends is a crucial part of the human experience, but just like many aspects of life, it turns out men and women have distinct preferences when it comes to friendship. A recent study found “striking gender differences” in the way we choose non-romantic companions: Women seek a few one-on-one, very close female... Read more
Vain Repetition? Really? (by John Frye) When I was a new Christian I was immersed in a very conservative Bible-oriented church. Unfettered legalism was peddled as godliness. For example, we, as teens, weren’t allowed to drink soda from cans (bottles were being phased out for soda) because others might think we were drinking beer. Alcohol was a huge no no. We must not be a “stumbling block.” It was a sharp “who’s in”and “who’s out”conclave. Catholics and main-line denomination types... Read more
Grace can be a word that tells the whole story of the gospel and the Christian faith; it can also be used to distort the whole story. Some people use the term “grace” to put the hammer down on people — something I call “grace grinding” — while others turn most everything into grace. [This post from A Fellowship of Differents.] Grace is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful word. One of the very best terms in the whole Bible, so it is... Read more
One of the red calendar days around here is when one of the books appears in a translation. Here is One.Life in Korean. Read more
Following up on a comment on my post last Thursday, I ordered and have begun to read Walter Moberly’s book Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture. Christian faith is rooted in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. On the road to Emmaus Jesus said to two downhearted followers: “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his... Read more
I was nurtured in the kind of American faith that was utterly convinced that the Rapture or the Second Coming — in essence, Judgment Day — was coming soon, if not very soon, and it was a good thing to be on the right side, which we were. While our pastor did not regal us with ramped apocalyptic sermons we had an annual revival that more often than not opened on the tense theme that tonight could be the night.... Read more
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