The Kingdom of God [ Thanks to Scott Stone for eliciting this post with his study and comments ] I’ve done a lot of reading over the past few years on the Kingdom of God. It is one of the most important biblical themes to study in my opinion, because it is the central teaching of Jesus Christ as we know from the 4 gospels. I have this theory, I know I’m not the first to come up with it.... Read more

Martin Lutherhere are two great reads on this man’s life and theology… Luther: Man Between God and the Devil andMartin Luther’s Theology: It’s Historical and Systematic DevelopmentI’ve had to read a couple of really good books on Luther over the last two weeks. I’m really blown away by this man and all that he accomplished in his lifetime. He’s a really interesting figure when it comes to controversy and I’m still trying to get a hold on his theology, but... Read more

Reading MarkA Literary and Theological Commentary on the Second GospelbySharyn Dowd Sharyn Dowd is a Southern Baptist theologian and is a professor in the religion department at Baylor. Dr. Dowd has a PhD. from Emory, which is a really good school, I think she got her masters at a Southern Baptist Seminary and her undergraduate at Wake Forest. She was on staff with a large Baptist church in North Carolina but has found some acclaim as an insightful biblical scholar... Read more

The Challenge of JesusRediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is Whatever you may think of N.T. Wright, you have to respect the ambitious writing/thinking adventure he has undertaken from which he hopes to author 6 large volume works under the heading of Christian Origins and the Question of God. – The New Testament and the People of God– Jesus and the Victory of God– The Resurrection of the Son of God I think the next one is on Paul, but I’m... Read more

Satellite SoulStraight Back to Kansas is ready to Rock When we decided to record a new Satellite Soul project it had been several years since our last national release Ardent Worship. We had stayed away from the studio for many reasons but one of the main reasons is that we were struggling to find something original to say. Finally we came up with a compelling reason to make a record. This record was born from the simple vision to try... Read more

Leadership Summit.Hybels not so clear. I’ve been an admirer of Bill Hybels for many years. My first exposure to his teaching was way back in 1988. While driving back and forth between Salina and Manhattan (I was working as a youth minister) I would listen to at least 4 services a week. I was captivated by his clear communication style and by the art they used (back then their tapes still had the music and drama recorded on them). I... Read more

Catching UpNo time to write lately Life has been a tad bit crazy this month. I’m speaking at church every week in August. I’m going to try and get a link to the mp3’s going as soon as they are up on the website – Hopefully we can get some good discussion going. We’ve also been in the final stages of the 4th Satellite Soul record. It’s mastered and we’re working on design stuff right now. It should be finished... Read more

A Prayer For Owen Meanyby John Irving This is by far the best fiction book I’ve ever read in my life. Nothing else I’ve read even comes close to how great this story is. If you have a little time left before the summer reading comes to a close, I highly recommend picking this book up! It is pretty long, but it is worth the investment of time for the payoff! I’m bummed because my summer reading is already over... Read more

The Scandal of the Evangelical ConscienceBy Dr. Ronald J. Sider I’ve talked about this book several times in other posts and thought I’d cover it in a little more detail. I skimmed this book a few months back, but just bought a copy for myself and devoured it in about 2 days. I haven’t marked up a book like this in quite awhile, maybe since I read one of Dr. Sider’s previous works, “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.”... Read more

On June 26-27 in Washington DC, Senator Barak Obama delievered a speech before the Sojourners Call to Renewal conference. I don’t usually feature politicians on this blog, but he’s doing some theology here, working with the idea of religion and politics and this one is in honor of our Independence day…one day late. Take some time and listen to this, I’d love to hear what you think. I really enjoyed his speech a lot. I listened to it again with... Read more