As a part of my rule of life, I pray the hours 4 times a day. I go to Mission St. Claire, generally, and read the book of common prayer liturgy “The Daily Office” online through them. Today, the church calendar tells me that we celebrate Thomas Merton, a St. of the Church. Some of his writings have deeply impacted me. Here are a few great quotes from Merton..“[A publisher asked me to write something on ‘The Secret of Success,’... Read more

William C. Placher 1948 – 2008 It was a sad day for me this week to learn that William Placher died at the age of 60. Placher was a leader in the field of post-liberal theology. You can read about him here. I have enjoyed Dr. Placher’s A History of Christian Theology, which remains a constant reference, but even more so by his work Unapologetic Theology: A Christian Voice in a Pluralistic Conversation. This book has meant a lot to... Read more

Compassion – by Henri Nouwena short review by Tim Suttle This short book plainly titled Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life by Nouwen, McNeill and Morrison[1] delivers a provocative and moving take on the life of compassion. The authors have no illusions of producing a theological treatise, this book actually grew out of the conversations of three friends who gathered weekly to discuss the concept of compassion as it relates to the Christian life. Compassion, they begin, literally means... Read more

I’m having youth choir flashbacks! Read more

I had to read this book again last week for a class. It was great to cover the material again. I’ve got tons of notes from studying this over the past couple of years. I decided it was time to post a review: Book Review: Missional Church – Darrel Guder ed. Reading these six authors who contributed to Missional Church has been a fruitful approach to studying ecclesiology. Guder introduces the project and writers in the first chapter, stipulating that... Read more

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for... Read more

I just finished an interesting book last night called What’s the matter with Preaching Today? I had to read it for class and write a paper on it. It was very interesting. It’s book of essays by various famous preachers and teachers reflecting upon a famous article written by Harry Emerson Fosdick in 1928 called “What’s the matter with Preaching?” The article was published in Harpers (can you imagine them publishing that today?) Anyway, there were two essays in particular... Read more

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I went to hear John Perkins with my wife and some friends the other night. Here are some of the notes from that talk. He’s amazing. 7 helping principles for those involved in social justice: 1. Family: Create and establish family among your people2. Truth: bring truth back through faith the bible3. Purpose: it is purpose/vision which keeps us from getting addicted to ourselves4. Courage: because fear paralyzes. He says that courage is to live out your convictions in the... Read more

I’m reading a great text on Ecclesiology right now by Veli-Matti Karkkainen. He divides his study of ecclesiology into sections according to denominations first: – Eastern Orthodox– Roman Catholic– Lutheran– Free Church– Pentecostal/Charismatic– Ecumenical Next he considers the ecclesiologies of some of the leading theologians writing in this specific discipline: – John Zizioulas– Hans Kung– Wolfhart Pannenberg– Jurgen Moltmann– Miroslav Volf– James McClendon Jr.– Lesslie Newbigin The last section is working on some of the more specialized themes such as... Read more