Part 12 of series: What is a Church? Church Beyond the Local Gathering Before I finish my discussion of the meaning of the word ekklesia – usually translated as “church” – in the New Testament, I need to say something about the use of ekklesia in Paul’s letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians. Curiously, neither of these letters are addressed to an ekklesia or to a group of ekklesiai as is the case in Paul’s letters to Corinth (both... Read more
For fun, yes, fun, I sometime read the police blotter in my local newspaper, the Boerne Star. Here are some items from the most recent edition (Nov 4). Boerne Police Department October 30, 1:59 a.m. – An officer found nothing suspicious where a woman reported hearing someone walking about outside, followed by a thud, but promised extra patrols. [Watch out for those scary thuds.] October 31, 10:03 p.m. – After one caller reported shots fired, another said shots were fired... Read more
Part 11 of series: What is a Church? The Church as an Alternative Community, Part 2 In yesterday’s post, I explained how the early Christian use of the work ekklesia for their gathering suggested that the church was an alternative, even a subversive community. By subversive, I do not mean that Christians were plotting to overthrow the local ekklesia (governing body of the city) by political or military means. Rather, the early Christian use of ekklesia did, in some sense,... Read more
The High Calling features a 60-second video on the question: Why is work important? Check out this short clip on the transformative power of work. Do you think Doug Barr is right? Is this why work matters? Read more
Part 10 of series: What is a Church? The Church as an Alternative Community, Part 1 Let me begin with a brief review. In my last few posts in this series I’ve been exploring the meaning of the Greek word ekklesia, which is ordinarily translated as “church.” This translation, however, is not necessarily the best because the English word “church” always has religious connotations, whereas ekklesia was a secular word that meant “assembly” or “gathering.” When it was used in... Read more
How Can I Be Joyful When God Disciplines Me? Psalm 94:1-23 Joyful are those you discipline, LORD, those you teach with your instructions. Psalm 94:12 When I hear the word “discipline,” a part of me winces. I don’t have a problem with the sound of the word, but rather its connotation. “Discipline” reminds me of unhappy times in my childhood, times when I was punished for doing something wrong. My parents were not unreasonably harsh with me, but, as you... Read more
My latest contribution to The Pastors Workshop is up. In this column, I consider different stereotypes for pastors. What I’m wondering about is this: What roles and positions in our cultural setting might be projected onto pastors? If people learn that you’re a clergyperson, what assumptions might they have about you and your ministry? What might folks in your church and community expect of you as a pastor because they associate you with people who serve in roles like yours?... Read more
For the last three weeks, I’ve been working away at a series I’ve called What is a Church? Biblical Basis for Christian Community. So far, I’ve focused on questions like: Where do people get their ideas of church? When is a church not a church? As you know, in most blogs, if you want to read previous posts, you have to mess around with the archive apparatus, which is not terribly user-friendly. But my habit has been to collect posts... Read more
A recent article in Religion News Service got me thinking about magic and Christianity. “Magicians say their craft makes them see faith as just hocus-pocus” begins by noting the recently published book by famed magician, Penn Jillette. In God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales, Jillette uses his platform as a magician to debunk religion. He says, “It’s always astonished me how any magician can be spiritual.” In fact, an awkward relationship between Christianity... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
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I Am Such a Trend-Setter!! :) LOL OMG
A couple of months ago, a business associate of mine ended a text message to me with a funny emoticon (AKA smiley). As it turns out, he had intended to send it to his daughter, but sent it to me accidentally. Well, that inspired me, so, with considerable help from Google, I discovered how to add emoticon capability to my text messaging function of my phone. Since then, I have been treating my friends and family members to my inspiring... Read more