From AP: NEW YORK (AP) – In over three decades of studying ferns, Duke University professor Kathleen Pryer has received her share of grant money. But for her newest project, she’s getting help from a retired nurse in Canada and a 17-year-old in Arkansas. It’s her first foray into the modern-day world of crowdfunding, the practice of using the Internet to raise relatively small amounts of money from a lot of people to finance a project. It’s quite a departure... Read more
John Johnston: Back in 1988, Kent Hughes, then an emerging pastor, was part of planting a new church. All the signs were positive. The mother church endorsed the project, and Kent was an up-and-coming star. The community was strategically targeted, and a solid core was part of the initial foundation. As he put it, “We had everything going for us…the prayers and predictions of our friends…the sophisticated insights of the science of church growth….a superb nucleus of believers…and we had me,... Read more
“We need to make disciples!” If you want loud applause from an audience of Christian leaders, make sir you mention how important it is to make disciples. The applause come because of our present-day fascination with all things “missional” and “disciple-making.” It’s kinda cool. Last year, I spent two days listening to and learning from a few of great thinkers share about “making disciples.” The opening speaker wanted to make one thing clear: The church is in trouble. According to... Read more
The clobber text for those who embrace eternal conscious torment is Revelation 14:11, with vv. 9-10 preceding it. Another way of saying this is that this is the defeater text for conditionalism; another way is to say this is the one text conditionalists have to use gymnastics to explain. Here it is: 9 If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he, too, will drink of the wine of... Read more
Psalm 119:17 is both a little request and a world of insight. “Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.” That first verb, “Do good,” brings one element of the verb gml to the surface: it can mean “to deal kindly” or even to “deal bountifully.” What seems to be a little request — “God, do good to me” — covers up a world of intention. The psalmist asks God, after the psalmist realizes that he has... Read more
Rachel Marie Stone: Among the most difficult sessions at the Sojourners Summit […] was the panel on gun violence. … One of the people on the panel at the Summit was Mark Barden, whose son, Daniel, was one of the first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Barden spoke with the kind of authenticity that can’t be coached. He seemed to be grieving with his whole self. Even the way he held his body looked sorrowful; the slope of his shoulders,... Read more
The final major essay in Four Views on the Historical Adam is by William D. Barrick. In his chapter Barrick argues for a traditional young earth view of Adam as the unique, supernaturally created, seminal father of all humankind. He argues that this is central to the biblical story and the Christian worldview. If Adam is not historical we must wonder why there is a need for Jesus. According to Barrick “[t]hat makes the historicity of Adam a gospel issue.”... Read more
The finest prayers of the church can be found in the church’s “collects.” A collect is a scripted prayer, used in public (or private) worship, written for a specific week in the church calendar, and which “collects” together the church’s petitions. What is not known is that the time-worn collects of the church have a long, long history. If you’d like to see the Anglican collects from The Book of Common Prayer, go to Lectionary. Each Sunday you can find that... Read more
“How can those who are young keep their way pure?,” asks the psalmist in the opening line of the Beth lines of Psalm 119 (v. 9a). Some think the entire psalm is the journal reflections of an ancient Israelite as life progresses. What impresses me is other verses in this great psalm that give context to the concern of this young man to get started when young. Notice the following verses (culled from Derek Kidner): 1. Some are skeptical: 119:126: “your law... Read more
From the Church of England site: The General Synod of the Church of England has today given its final approval for women to become bishops in the Church of England. The vote in the General Synod on the measure was carried by the required two-thirds majority in the three constituent parts of the Synod: the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. The voting results were as follows: House of Bishops: Yes 37 No 2... Read more
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