Being Ted Haggard (by John Frye) Much misunderstanding reigns in and damage inflicted by the act of judging others. Scot McKnight helps us land on our feet about this volatile issue as he explores Matthew 7:1-5 in his SGBC: The Sermon on the Mount. An easy error for Bible readers to make is to forget that the Story of God in the Bible is God’s omniscient perspective on the human race and individuals within it. “It is God’s perspective on... Read more
Modern theology arises from the challenges, some of them successful of course, to traditional theology. In Roger Olson’s splendid volume, The Journey to Modern Theology, one can find a rapid, clear, and insightful sketch of the challenges to traditional theology (pp. 31-124). I can provide but a sketch of his sketch, but this is just the kind of book intelligent pastors not only put on the shelf but also read slowly in order to digest. Someone once said there is nothing... Read more
Time for Beloit’s annual mindset list. Students heading into their first year of college this year were generally born in 1996. Among those who have never been alive in their lifetime are Tupac Shakur, JonBenet Ramsey, Carl Sagan, and Tiny Tim. On Parents’ Weekend, they may want to watch out in case Madonna shows up to see daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon or Sylvester Stallone comes to see daughter Sophia. For students entering college this fall in the Class of... Read more
Source: I’ve known a small handful of people who’ve had lives remarkably free from trial, reversal or loss. One woman I used to know had her entire life mapped out using the blueprint of the American Dream, Conservative Christian Version, from a very young age. Her life has gone pretty much the way she’d planned it: marriage, two kids, a dog, lovely suburban home, stable career, a bit of travel, a cozy group of friends. It was pretty amazing to... Read more
Jonathan Moo and Robert White in Let Creation Rejoice: Biblical Hope and Ecological Crisis turn from the evidence for environmental crisis and global warming to a Christian response. There are plenty of secular people who think that the Christian response (at least the evangelical response) is consumption and destruction. Others simply think we have our heads in the sand assuming that God will prevent any real damage of his good creation. As Moo and White point out, there is plenty... Read more
It might not be our image today, but it was the psalmist’s image: “I am like a wineskin in the smoke” (119:83). Or as the JPS translator has it: “Though I have become like a water-skin dried in smoke.” What does this image evoke, for it is from this point that this section (kaf, or K) of Psalm 119 takes its departure? Dried up to the point of cracking. Hard to the point of no flexibility. Parched to the point where moisture is... Read more
From Michelle Icard: Understanding why middle-schoolers are driven toward risk-taking is helpful, but knowing how to keep them safe is even better. While a middle-schooler’s brain can’t tell the difference between a good risk and a bad risk, the good news is that it’s equally satisfied by both. You’ve probably heard that kids who play sports are less likely to engage in negative risky behavior. That is not because they’re too busy to find time to misbehave. (Note: This is... Read more
Why Would You Ever Leave a Church You Love? (by Jarrod Robinson, Southern Hills Church of Christ, Abilene) My family and I just left a church we loved with all our hearts. It has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever made. Nearly eight years ago my wife, Lauren, and I joined a new church family in the Dallas area. In many ways, it was love at first sight. The church leaders and staff were excited for... Read more
How is the Christian to engage society, the so-called “public” sector, or politics? With the awakening of evangelicals to political activism in the Reagan era, which trailed the more progressive activists of the 60s generation, which trailed the political activism of American mainline liberals, Willard’s answer may seem a bit passé, quaint, or even backward. But is it? Here is his essential proposal: “God’s ‘divine conspiracy’ is to overcome the human kingdoms of this world with love, justice, and truth”... Read more
David Moore, a friend down in the great State of Texas, after the trendy rocket-like success Prayer of Jabez, wrote out this series of questions to any book having the claim to be the latest solution to how to live the Christian life. What would you add? subtract? modify? Does the book convey (explicitly or implicitly) that it is the “key” to living the victorious Christian life? Does the author present more of a formulaic approach to the Christian life rather... Read more
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