Charity: Who Gives?

Last updated on: March 22, 2013 at 2:27 pm By Scot McKnight

From Ken Stern: It is not. One of the most surprising, and perhaps confounding, facts of charity in America is that the people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate the greatest percentage of their income. In 2011, the wealthiest Americans—those with earnings in the top 20 percent—contributed on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity. By comparison, Americans at the base of the income pyramid—those in the bottom 20 percent—donated 3.2 percent of their income. The relative... Read more

Cosmic Consequences? (RJS)

Last updated on: March 26, 2013 at 6:03 am By RJS

In the post last Thursday I focused on Ch. 10, The Problem of Sin, in Tim Keller’s book The Reason for God. I found this chapter to contain many important insights and felt that it was worth serious consideration, free from distraction. There is one passage in the chapter, however, that I found somewhat less useful. This also is worth some discussion. This is a section, p. 169-170, entitled The Cosmic Consequences of Sin. I will quote the passage here... Read more

Myths about Bible Translation

Last updated on: March 25, 2013 at 8:21 am By Scot McKnight

This is from Daniel Wallace’s list, and there’s plenty here to discuss. Dan has discussion and examples for each. What are the most common myths about translation you encounter? 1. Perhaps the number one myth about Bible translation is that a word-for-word translation is the best kind. 2. Similar to the first point is that a literal translation is the best version. 3. The King James Version is a literal translation. 4. The King James Version is perfect. 5. The King... Read more

MOOCs: Progress Report

Last updated on: March 21, 2013 at 8:10 am By Scot McKnight

From Quartz: Online education has been around for a long time. But massive open online courses are finally making it respectable. Maybe even cool. Let’s not forget, though, that they are still experiments. And despite being “massively overhyped” (even in the eyes of their most dyed-in-the-wool supporters), they are not actually having a massive impact on students yet. So let’s review what we’ve learned so far. Because if online education is going to be useful for learners, then it’s time for online learning... Read more

Rick Warren: Parachurch Orgs

Last updated on: April 25, 2013 at 10:53 am By Scot McKnight

From Rick Warren’s interview with CT: Pastors across the board seem much less influential in the larger culture than they were a generation ago. What happened? My generation fell in love with the parachurch. My generation and the generation before me built all the great parachurch organizations: Focus on the Family, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Wycliffe, Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, Young Life, Youth for Christ, and so on. The reason why the church doesn’t have greater impact is because the smartest... Read more

Roy Bourgeois: On RCC Ordaining Women

Last updated on: March 21, 2013 at 8:08 am By Scot McKnight

From NYTimes: AFTER serving as a Roman Catholic priest for 40 years, I was expelled from the priesthood last November because of my public support for the ordination of women. Catholic priests say that the call to be a priest comes from God. As a young priest, I began to ask myself and my fellow priests: “Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God’s call to women is not?” Isn’t our all-powerful... Read more

The Mission of God

Last updated on: March 25, 2013 at 5:38 am By Scot McKnight

Undoubtedly one enduring term today is the word “missional.” What is “missional,” you ask? The answer often comes back with this: “It is to see ourselves in light of God’s mission, the missio Dei, in and for the world.” To me that is like answering this question — What is baseball? — with this answer: “It’s a sport with a ball.” To quote Flannery, that’s right but just ain’t right enough. I’m all for “missional” as long as “missional” means something.... Read more

On Preparing Sermons: Stott’s Wisdom

Last updated on: March 22, 2013 at 2:25 pm By Scot McKnight

From Josh Harris, from John Stott (reduced for this site): Steps for Preparing a Sermon 1. Choose your text and meditate on it. – Read the text, re-read it, re-read it and read it again. 2. Ask questions of the text. – What does it mean? Or better yet, what did it mean when first spoken or written? – What did the author intend to affirm or condemn or promise or command? – What does it say? What is its... Read more

Model Pastor

Last updated on: March 22, 2013 at 4:10 pm By Scot McKnight

The pastor who knows he or she is an ordinary is the sort of pastor we need. I won’t forget the time I spoke at North Point and Andy Stanley picked me up at the hotel to take me to church. I have other stories as well, but one of the disciplines of a pastor is to work at being ordinary and not being so separated or special. In other words, like Pope Francis: He’s the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics... Read more

Consciences, that’s the issue

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 6:46 pm By Scot McKnight

From Tim Owens, pastor: Tebow’s address was scheduled as one of the events surrounding First Baptist Dallas’s grand opening of their new $130 million campus, which is the largest church building campaign in modern American history. Another quick recap: A prominent evangelical declines an invitation to participate in the celebration of the most luxurious church building ever constructed in America, and the issue of spending $130 million on a building doesn’t even make it into the debate. Look, I haven’t... Read more

Who passed by in the Parable of the Good Samaritan before the Samaritan helped?