For the next few days I am going to introduce you to a book that I’ve found to be a great resource. It’s called Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape our Lives, by Wilkens and Sanford. The rest of the series can be read here. In the third chapter the authors discuss the hidden worldview of consumerism. From the beginning they shed light on the fact that all people are consumers at one level. We were made by God... Read more
I invite you to watch a 3 min video where I reflect on whether our worship music and liturgy ought to be change from individualized language to plural, specifically as a correction to the abundance of individualism in the United States. I would love to have you watch this brief video and give me some feedback! Example of what my question at the end of the video is getting at: Instead of singing “Here I am to worship. Here I... Read more
For the next few days I am going to introduce you to a book that I’ve found to be a great resource. It’s called Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape our Lives, by Wilkens and Sanford. The rest of the series can be read here. In the first chapter of Hidden Worldviews the authors present the idea of worldview as story. They make clear that story has to do with “real-life” more than “purified theoretical forms” (14). The way... Read more
KURT’S NOTE: The following is a guest post from Jason Dye. I take no responsibility for the content of this article (except for posting it on his behalf). His piece gets at some of this issues that concern me about libertarian political philosophy. My belief is that an unregulated market and a “small government” will lead to social Darwinism. As Christians, we are invited to call governments to account when their actions or lack of actions lead to injustice for... Read more
Global temperatures have warmed significantly since 1880, the beginning of what scientists call the “modern record.” At this time, the coverage provided by weather stations allowed for essentially global temperature data. As greenhouse gas emissions from energy production, industry and vehicles have increased, temperatures have climbed, most notably since the late 1970s. In this animation of temperature data from 1880-2011, reds indicate temperatures higher than the average during a baseline period of 1951-1980, while blues indicate lower temperatures than the... Read more
*The following is a guest book review by Lawrence Gracia. Kurt does not necessarily endorse all of its content. Enjoy! It is quite fascinating that among the thousands of ignominious crucifixions performed by the Romans within the first-century, either side of Jesus of Nazareth, that his and his alone, set forward a chain of events that would go on to forever alter history. That within decades, Jesus’ fate on the “dreaded wood” as they called it began to be interpreted... Read more
*This is a guest post written by Matt Erickson. The views expressed below do not necessarily reflect those of Kurt Willems. In Shakespeare’s powerful drama King Lear there is a moving scene where King Lear, bereft of the daughter he loves most, Cordelia, and being controlled by his two other self-serving daughters, Goneril and Regan, rushes out into a tempestuous storm.[1] As the dark storm rages about him, Lear rages about his own suffering and loss. He calls upon the... Read more
The Pangea Blog
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Finding Conversation Partners: Acquiring the right commentaries for preaching
I thought the following gave some good criteria for thinking about gathering commentary resources for preaching. With so many options out there, it can be overwhleming and expensive. The Biblical Preaching blog give the following advise: A few quick thoughts on buying commentaries (gathering the conversation partners): 1. If you can, try before you buy (library, google books, friend, etc.) If not, at least get good recommendations (such as on bestcommentaries.com). 2. Let your ministry provoke your purchases. I take... Read more