By Tara Beth Leach. Before Jeff and I had children, we knew (we thought we knew) exactly how we should raise our children. We were that young couple in the store that would observe other children and whisper to one another, “when we have kids we will never allow them to do that!” We had visions of sitting together in restaurants with perfectly tamed children without electronics and we imagined our children quietly and peacefully sitting in the pews during... Read more
What book or material do you recommend for children grieving when someone ministering to children in your church (or school) dies? A pastor wrote to me recently with this question, I’ve asked around and am not finding much in this area — Any recommendations? Read more
The past few weeks I have been preaching through the book of James at the church where I serve, and a couple of weeks ago while I was studying, the most bizarre thought popped in my head. “Friedrich Nietzsche and James actually have a lot in common.” And their greatest similarities revolve around the fact that at one point in their lives they realized the death of God. Nietzsche has gotten a lot of bad press from Christians. He was... Read more
From Samuel Smith: Questions for Peter Lillback: What’s your aim? What’s the best strategy to make it happen? Speaking at Westminster Theological Seminary’s second-ever “Real State of the Union” conference last Saturday, three Christian scholars stressed to attendees that it is time for Christians to faithfully stand up in the public square and reclaim America’s Judeo-Christian heritage from what has become a prominently secular society. “I am calling on all believers to have a recommitment to the truth of Christ... Read more
The first two chapters in N. T. Wright’s book Surprised by Scripture address questions concerning science and Christian faith. The primary focus in the second was on Adam (It’s About God and God’s Kingdom), but the essay started with a discussion of the authority of scripture and the importance of being immersed in the story told in scripture. We need to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and become immersed in the whole sweep of scripture. When we are... Read more
Cable News, Heretics, and Shooting at Family Members (by Jeff Cook) I know about theological disagreements. My 4-year-old son thinks heaven is in the clouds. I can’t convince him otherwise. He’s pretty set on this view, and he’s spreading his fabrications at preschool. Since he won’t listen to me, I have decided to call him out online. I tweet about him regularly. I make sure his real views are exposed on his Wikipedia page, and I ask powerful people not... Read more
I am a mom to four boys ranging in age from three years to eight years. A normal day with them can include wrestling matches over who owns the Legos and sweet moments where they actually put someone else’s needs first. Sometimes I feel like I am a referee, but instead of getting caught up in that, I try to focus on the big picture of what I’m doing as a mom. As their mom, I spend a lot of... Read more
Tradition, that’s the silence factor. Each of us, whenever we read the Bible, every time we read the Bible, for whatever purpose we read it, is impacted by our tradition, and it is often silent. Can we avoid it? In Matthew Levering’s new book, Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation, he sketches the “official” Roman Catholic view from the papal document, Dei Verbum. Then he advances the view of T. Tilley, a much more accommodating or progressivist view, and then Levering offers a proposal. I am... Read more
Who's accommodating now? Read more
By Tony Kriz, from Portland (woohoo), From CT: I want to encourage an exhale of peace and freedom here. I am going to take a few minutes to simply start the conversation. Here is a short list, in no particular order, of seven of the ways that I am aware that I and others have lied (and still do) when we practice cross-spiritual communication. I hope that you will add your own thoughts in the comments below. Maybe we will... Read more
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