As some of you know, Sharing God’s Love – The Jesus Creed for Children is released this week. My daughter (Laura) and I turned the Jesus Creed practice into a children’s book. The book is full of wonderful (no, adorable) illustrations and shows how young children can love God and love other people in their daily life — at home, in the classroom, on the bus, on the playground. The Jesus Creed is from Mark 12:29-31 and urges us to love God and... Read more

Chapter three of Iain Provan’s new book Seriously Dangerous Religion explores the Old Testament view of God and the way this view differed from other ancient Near Eastern views and indeed other views past and present around the world. This is a foundation on which our understanding of Christian faith rests, expanded by an understanding of Jesus as God’s Messiah … but that comes later. The ancient Near Eastern culture saw a pantheon or board of Gods, not unlike humans... Read more

The church in the USA (no need to generalize too much here) is being put to the test in a number of ways today. Perhaps the way to look at this test is to see how the church has responded. Mark Labberton, President of Fuller seminary, in his new book Called: The Crisis and Promise of the Following Jesus Today, sketches a number of ways the church has shaped itself in our culture — I am wondering what you would add... Read more

Some of you know Laura (my daughter) and I turned the Jesus Creed into a children’s book. The Jesus Creed is from Mark 12:29-31 and urges us to love God and love others. As this was taught to the boys and girls in ancient Israel, so it can — and should — be taught to our children today. Sharing God’s Love – The Jesus Creed for Children will launch on Thursday evening, October 16 at Carol and Company, a unique... Read more

By Khristi L. Adams: Not all members of the body of Christ are called to marriage, but all are called to be part of the body of Christ. We are complete in him alone and we are all adopted into one family no matter our place in society or our relationship status. We have to create a culture that celebrates, embraces and encourages individuals whether married or not. Here are a few things we can do to start. Change our... Read more

This post is by my friend, Josh Ross @joshualouisross, who is author of the book Scarred Faith and preaching minister at the Sycamore View Church in Memphis. Remembering Love What cities come to mind when you think of the most evil, sexually charged, immoral, idolatrous places in the 1st century? You know what the Bible calls most of those cities? They are called the titles of some of the major books in the New Testament. A lot of time, attention,... Read more

I’m not alone in the experience, but here it is: a deep and lengthy immersion in the language and thought of the Synoptic Gospels followed by a reading of any passage in the Gospel of John. The change of texts can befuddle even the most experienced of readers. What happened, for examples, to kingdom and discipleship? And why now so much on faith and eternal life? What happened to the more reticent Jesus in the Synoptics when we get to... Read more

I don’t move in circles that discuss corporal punishment much, whether the discussion is about the home or in society. So I would like to know what you believe about corporal punishment in society as a result of breaking laws. And the major question here that we want to address is How do we make such decisions? And that means What role does the Bible play in such a decision? Which leads us to… William Webb, adjunct at Tyndale Seminary... Read more

I’ve been especially busy the last week, and traveling today. Rather than struggle to come up with something new, this is a repeat of one of my favorite posts, lightly edited. You may or may not agree with my ranking of the post – but the topic is worth some consideration. I’ve run through a few different titles for this post – perhaps “I’ve Found the Solution!” … or even more provocatively “We’ve Been Suckered?” … among others. I’ve settled,... Read more