Jesus Creed
What’s your caption? (HT: Geeding) Read more
What’s your caption? (HT: Geeding) Read more
Brian Zahnd, at Word of Life Church in St Joseph MO, had a dream. He dreamed of bringing theologians together with pastors to engage one another — let the theologian present an idea and then let the pastors engage the theologian. I was privileged of being asked to be the theologian at the 2012 version of Faith and Culture conference. I begin with this: Brian Zahnd has as fertile and nimble of a mind as I’ve seen among pastors. He’s... Read more
How complementarian is the Bible? Listen to Phil Payne discuss this question at TEDS on Nov 12, 7pm. At the A.T. Olsen chapel. Roger Olson on oppression, sometimes against boys and males. No matter what! Beautiful story by April. Greg Boyd… always worth the read or listen: “This message leaves unanswered a multitude of questions that could be raised regarding LGBT people and the church. The goal of this message is to simply point us in the direction of a third way of... Read more
From Gillian Mayman: The idea that you need to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day is ubiquitous in American culture. I’ve had doctors tell me this. I’ve read it on credible medical web sites. I’ve listened to a professor of public health discuss this as if it is scientific fact. However, there is no scientific basis for the “8 glasses of water a day” rule. Even more intriguingly, the origins are somewhat of a mystery…. Dr. Frederick... Read more
From Barking Up the Wrong Tree: How can he tell who will split up? There are a number of indicators but at the core of Gottman’s research are “ The Four Horsemen.” These are the four things that indicate a marriage apocalypse is on its way: Criticism – Complaints are fine. Criticism is more global — it attacks the person, not their behavior. They didn’t take out the garbage because they forgot, but because they’re a bad person. Contempt – “…name-calling, eye-rolling, sneering, mockery, and... Read more
I (John Frye) like to tell my friend, Scot McKnight, that Eugene H. Peterson was emergent before most of the well-known emergent leaders were born. One emphasized element in the blossoming theology of discipleship these days is the place and power of story. In 1980 John Knox Press published EHP’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. In that book Peterson has a chapter titled “The Pastoral Work of Story-Making: Ruth.” Peterson observes that it was the ancient Hebrews who created... Read more
Tim Keller contends that in the first half of the 20th Century American evangelicalism went pietistic, and by that he means “ignore culture and put all stress on conversions and on the spiritual growth of individuals” (184, in Center Church). Two quick points before we move on: First, he’s right: far too many of evangelicals withdrew from culture and were largely indifferent to society and culture, and their focus was personal salvation and transformation. Second, I’m not sure Keller’s read the... Read more
Smithsonian has a wonderful article on the history of espresso but this concluding paragraph summarizes what espresso is: Over more than a century, the espresso machine has been drastically improved, with electrical components, computerized measurements, and portable pneumatics. But as with the finest objects of design, science and technology is not enough. There is an art to the espresso as well. The talent of the barista is as important as the quality of the beans and the efficiency of the... Read more
From Mark Stevens: Upon reading this I was reminded of why it is not my job as a pastor to become embroiled in politics or political issues; at least not in an activist sense. My role as a pastor is to proclaim Christ and him crucified. To invite people, powerful and weak, rich and poor to this table. Ironically this table is a political statement. It says that Jesus is Lord and the rulers of this world are not. This... Read more
I was inspired earlier this year to listen to the whole Bible straight through – inspired by the example of some of the regular readers and commenters on this blog. In the course of this project (as of today I am about 3/4 of the way through a second pass) I have learned quite a lot. After many decades in the church, there was very little that was unfamiliar. I think this is the first time I’ve had the patience... Read more
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