Does the Book of Revelation refer to yet future events? Does it use images that are most/entirely timeless? Or does the Book of Revelation have visions that are/were then already past events? We can leave open, of course, a variety of mixing affirmative answers to each of the questions. How the church has read Revelation is the focus of Craig Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, chapter one. We turn today to what happens to the Book of Revelation... Read more

The Merriam-Webster dictionary online defines ambition as (a) an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power (b) desire to achieve a particular end. This is viewed as a virtue in much of our culture – certainly in academia. Ambition is also considered a virtue in the church. Perhaps most significantly in the view that “bigger is better.” But is ambition a virtue? Should it be viewed as a virtue from a Christian perspective? What role does ambition play in our... Read more

To connect the word “myth” with what traditional Christians have called “miracles” is to court both misunderstanding and disagreement, if not also some disappointment. Luke Timothy Johnson contends that for us to recapture a world in which the miracles of God are alive and well means we have to recapture miracles as myths and to learn to define myth appropriately. We are looking again at Luke Timothy Johnson’s new book on miracles, Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation. C.S.... Read more

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. BCP Read more

A wonderful couple days in Wichita with the Apprentice Institute and this week I go to Seedbed’s New Room conference in Nashville. Then classes begin… Teachers, underpaid and largely ignored: Hope Brown can make $60 donating plasma from her blood cells twice in one week, and a little more if she sells some of her clothes at a consignment store. It’s usually just enough to cover an electric bill or a car payment. This financial juggling is now a part... Read more

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  Interested in joining Scot for his class on Paul’s Pastoral Theology? Email Chaz at [email protected] What is the basic and most important elemental calling of a Pastor? Scot suggests that Paul describes the primary task of the pastor as creating and nurturing a culture of Christoformity. Pastors can easily be distracted by all the voices clamoring at what they should do. Critical to the Kingdom taking root is pastors being faithful to the work God has called them. Read more

Peace Means Storms Are On the Outside, by Mike Glenn One of the great pleasures of being a grandparent is listening to your children complain about how hard it is to be a parent. “What is it with a three year old,” my son said. “I thought we were through the terrible twos. Where did this three year old come from?” You laugh and remind him he was once a three year old, and everyone got through it just fine.... Read more

We continue our series on the apostolic fathers as look into 1 Clement 62-65. Our series uses for its text Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers. 1 Clement is from a leader in Rome to the leaders and people of Corinth, and in chps 62-65 he turns to the factions and fractions in Corinth with some corruption in leadership. He wants the Corinthians to finish reading this letter well by humbly receiving its contents. Here’s how Clement summarizes his own intention... Read more