O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, For ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more

 Read more

Great news about Transformation Church, Derwin Gray’s church, a Northern Seminary graduate: South Carolina megachurch Pastor Derwin Gray announced Sunday that his multicultural congregation donated $50,000 to a local pro-life pregnancy center. Gray, the 47-year-old founder and leader of Transformation Church in Indian Land, South Carolina, and a former NFL player, recalled how his own mother was encouraged to get an abortion when she was pregnant with him at 16. He took time during service Sunday to announce the large donation the... Read more

  Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Part 1) – KR 121 Get Paul and Palestinian Judaism 50% off here (act now because the deal is only available til 3/28/19) Every so often a book comes along and changes the course of New Testament studies. Scot identifies Paul and Palestinian Judaism as one of five books that are truly phenomenal in New Testament studies. In this episode, Scot introduces Sanders’ approach to his study and why it has been so impactful. Next... Read more

By Mike Glenn The age old question is “can you teach an old dog new tricks?” The obvious answer is “yes” because if a dog, or any animal for that matter, can’t learn new tricks, they don’t survive. Evolution isn’t about the survival of the strongest, but the most adaptable. Dogs have been learning new tricks for thousands of years. Scientist tell us dogs began hanging around humans because the dogs found out the humans would feed them. Since then,... Read more

I’ve been traveling – with little time to write. This is a repost – but it joins with the series looking at leadership within the church. John Walton has an interesting analysis of the question of women in ministry included in the Contemporary Significance section of his commentary on Genesis 2 (The NIV Application Commentary Genesis). This is worth some serious thought and discussion. Commitments. He suggests several steps and commitments we should take. First, the commitments quoted from pp.... Read more

I used to tell my daughter Laura, a grade school teacher, that someone needs to write a book for children with the title “Ordinary is OK.” So many children grow up thinking being average is inferior — leading to grade inflation, and all sorts of social challenges. The fact is most people are ordinary and that is because if everyone is exceptional, no one is and that means everyone exceptional is actually ordinary. Ordinary is the norm. Heroes are the... Read more

In the last few years a number of churches, from a variety of denominations, have used our 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed for Lent. (My publisher (Paraclete) has been in contact with a few churches already inquiring about Lenten materials, so that is why we are approaching Lent so soon.) Others are using The Jesus Creed itself, which is longer. We have three accompanying books as well! A Companion Guide to The Jesus Creed The Jesus Creed for Students Sharing... Read more

Why do people doubt science? (Above is the view I am enjoying this week – hard at work at a conference.) People find many reasons to question authorities – scientists, pastors, priests, presidents. The issues are often similar, but not identical. In particular I have long been interested in the reasons religious people (especially evangelical Christians) question scientific consensus. As a group, we are not “science deniers” or at least most of us are not. Yet even David Fitch recently... Read more

The big picture is this: profit requires labor, labor requires laborers, white North Americans wanted profit, they needed laborers, and African slaves became their laborers. Not all at once, claims Jemar Tisby in his new book,  The Color of Compromise.  Indentured servants and laborers over time became slaves, and along with this shift was the connection of blackness to inferiority and whiteness to superiority. My understanding of the history of slavery is that blackness was connected to slavery in about the... Read more