David Fitch, my friend and colleague at Northern Seminary, in DC, asked to speak about Missio Alliance but instead…. … he starts talking about hockey and Max and hockey and … well… one-third of the way into the talk he starts talking theology. Hockey, so I hear, a game for winter on ice is still being played. Brother David, it’s baseball season. Put away the play sticks and get a bat. Read more
From The Big Questions: But is that really the best way to solve problems and improve your mind? Not necessarily, according to social scientists who have been studying this question in recent years. While researchers have found new support for the old Victorian practices, they’ve also discovered evidence for the benefits of daydreaming. This activity, long dismissed as a waste of time (or worse — psychology textbooks warned it could lead to psychosis), has gained new respect from researchers like... Read more
Michelle van Loon has done a survey of why 40+ leave local churches or diminish their participation, and in her study she wonders if maybe churches have focused so much on -40 that those 40+ are outside the framework. What do you think? Do churches neglect the spiritual formative needs of the 40+? However, the larger theme among those who took the survey appears to be that those over 40 do seek to maintain a connection with a local church.... Read more
No matter how we look at it the question of miracles is a key one as we consider faith, worldview and science. Certainly I have been asked many times on this blog how I can dismiss a miraculous creation (I don’t – but we’ll get to that), yet accept (apparently arbitrarily) the miracles performed by Jesus and, of course, the resurrection. Isn’t it all or nothing? How can we pick and choose? On the science side, of course, acceptance of... Read more
Christians are deeply vested in this double question. Complementarians are essentialists who think there are distinctive, essential differences between a man and woman, while egalitarians (the right term in this discussion) are not essentialists in that they think the differences are nurture and not nature. But this raises the double question: So what is a man essentially and what is a woman essentially? And that leads to this question: What are the distinctions? What is one distinction between a man... Read more
A person who has influenced many of us, Dallas Willard, has passed away from cancer. I met Dallas only once at a Renovare conference and it has a special memory for both Kris and me. I told him his voice sounded like Johnny Wooden and he smiled and nodded, so I said, “Do you know who he is?” He said, “Johnny Wooden and I were friends.” That was so cool to me. Kris and I were both impressed with his... Read more
The pressure can be intended and it can be unintended, but it is not uncommon for children to feel the need to break the mold as they individuate. Pastor’s kids (PK’s) are a good example. How do you church leaders deal with this? Beneath the stereotypes of preacher’s kids as either goody two-shoes or devilish hellions lies a tense and sometimes taxing reality, the children of clergy say. Studies show that many PK’s, as the lingo goes, struggle with issues... Read more
Source: the-cma.com via Larry on Pinterest From Larry Ferlazzo Read more
One of my favorite Christians of all time is Charles Sheldon, the one who lived his life and led his ministry with one simple question: “What would Jesus do?” His novel of that title has sold millions of copies, it’s not a great book — but Sheldon himself transcended his quaint, even sentimental novels. Perhaps why I like Sheldon the most is the challenge of his life to theology itself: Sheldon preferred “untheological Christianity” because of the Fundamentalist-Modernist battles. A... Read more
David Cramer, in “Assessing Hierarchist Logic: Is Egalitarianism Really on a Slippery Slope,” in Priscilla Papers 27.2 (2013) 5-9, takes the author of Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? to task at the logical level. Cramer chose in uncanny fashion not to mention Grudem’s name in the text in order to keep attention on the arguments and not the person. Priscilla Papers is a fine publication of the Christians for Biblical Equality. Link to article now available. Before I begin we observe that... Read more
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