The church has been around for something like 2000 years. Christians have been wrestling with the scriptures, with the nature of God, trying to understand both Christ and Church for two millenia – well over 20 times the length of time any of us will have to wrestle with the issues. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before in many ways, and they all have insights from which we can learn much. They are wise who... Read more
Perhaps the 21st Century will be when evangelicalism develops an ecclesiology. Perhaps, I say, because the prospects right now are nothing but turbulent waters. Denominations are shrinking noticeably; more and more churches are going rogue. Some are calling for reviving the 1st Century’s house churches and others are non-denominational and mostly disconnected from one another. But everyone’s talking about how to “do” church . The irony in all this is that in disconnecting from the great tradition, which is an ecclesial tradition,... Read more
Just in case you haven’t heard, we are a part of a new coalition of church leaders called Missio Alliance, and our first conference will be next April 11-13 in Alexandria VA. Here is a link to the presenters, schedule and costs. I encourage pastors and leaders to consider this opportunity to hear expositions of Scripture, network with others, learn and fellowship. Link to brochure. What’s it about? Exploring the shape of a missional encounter with this new context calls for asking... Read more
By Peg Tyre, a story about reviving learning through the lost art of essay writing: Good writing is learned two ways: by reading good writers and by writing under the supervision of someone who cares about good writing. And so the school’s principal, Deirdre DeAngelis, began a detailed investigation into why, ultimately, New Dorp’s students were failing. By 2008, she and her faculty had come to a singular answer: bad writing. Students’ inability to translate thoughts into coherent, well-argued sentences,... Read more
The world is on its way to becoming 70% urban so even if you don’t get called to minister in the city, the city is coming to you! At the heart of Tim Keller’s ministry at Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan is a vision of the city, so at the heart of that ministry is an understanding of “contextualization.” You can find his most recent summary of his thoughts in Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. His discussions are... Read more
The story of the relation of Genesis to science is complicated. In fact, there are a number of stories, but the first one is the story of difference and then the story compatibility and the third one the story of monopoly. So argues Francis Watson in his chapter in Reading Genesis after Darwin. The story many receive today is that either Genesis is right and science wrong, or science is right and Genesis is wrong. Watson contends that sells the... Read more
Bill Maxwell tells his story of formerly encouraging people to become public school teachers, but he can no longer do that: Are you seeing this? Why do you think it is the case that teachers are leaving? Back then, while recalling my public school teachers and having recently completed two transformative years at the University of Chicago in graduate school, I would passionately encourage my brightest students to become teachers. Many followed my advice…. Why, you ask, would I want... Read more
Kent Shaffer posted his Top 200 Church blogs, and Ed Stetzer made these observations: Seven of the top ten are decidedly Calvinistic, most aggressively so, (Interestingly, Michael Hyatt is Eastern Orthodox (of the Antiochian Sea) which is fascinating. Scot McKnight is hard to categorize, but not Reformed. Now why is it so hard to categorize someone who is an Anabaptist Anglican type? My observation: Early in the blogging world, say 7-8 years ago, the blogging world was much more into emerging blogs... Read more
Scientific American posts its IgNobels … and you can click through to see the rest. And such prizes they are. As master of ceremonies and organizer of the IgNobels, Marc Abrahams, famously says at the end of each ceremony: “If you didn’t win an IgNobel prize this year – but especially if you did – better luck next year.” And while the winners this year went in for some truly silly studies, they papers they produced also made some important contributions.... Read more
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
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