On Listening to One Another
We need to listen to people with different perspectives in a variety of different ways to improve our own understanding.
Choose Your Shape!
Well, perhaps, “choosing” should be “recognizing.” Weird? Doesn’t make sense? Read on! In the late 1990s I participated in a program here in Escambia County called CommUNITY Dialogues, led by a creative and interesting communications specialist (and I had not, up to that time, used “creative” or “interesting” with regard to such people!) named Dr….
In Controversy, Build Community
So the disciples decided to send help to the brothers and sisters living in Judea, as each one was able. They carried out their plan, and had Barnabas and Paul deliver their gift. (Acts 11:29-30) This is a short verse, but I think it’s very sweet. As the story of Acts progresses, we’re entering the…
Will Antisemitism Ever End
I get a daily (most days!) e-newsletter from Rabbi Evan Moffic. I find his thoughts inspiring and helpful. I want to quote his letter today in full. You can learn about some of his books through his Amazon.com author page or my Aer.io page for him. Henry, My grandfather passed away in 2007 at age…
Courtesy Is not just for the Other Person
Probably as the result of the political correctness debate—well, perhaps not debate; more brouhaha—I hear or read frequent complaints about an expectation of courteous speech as though it’s an imposition. In order to cater to someone’s excessively fragile sensibilities, the argument goes, one is expected to deny the truth in favor of “political correctness.” In…
How My Business – and My Marriage – Work
When Jody and I began our courtship we were treated to quite a lot of advice. One of the things we heard quite frequently was that we were too different to make a good couple. Just what those differences were, well, differed according to the observer. Underlying this type of advice was the assumption that…
Would You Like a World that Was Perfectly Square?
Not sure? Tonight you can find out! On the Energion Hangout tonight I’ll be interviewing my friend Dr. Dolly Berthelot, author of PERFECTLY SQUARE: A Fantasy Fable for All Ages, and an all around great person. Let’s get the commercial part out of the way first. This book was first published in 1994, and its…
Essentials of the Faith – or Not
C. Michael Patton has written a post on doctrinal essentials which is quite interesting. James McGrath responds. I find this a very useful discussion even when I disagree on what is essential. For example, while Patton states that he is writing about doctrine, and that another post could be written on essential practice, I would…
Progressive Orthodoxy
C. Michael Patton has an interesting post today taken from his introduction to theology students. I would particularly like any number of the folks in the various Sunday School classes I teach to absorb some of the material. This is not because I generally agree. I perceive myself to be both to the left and…
Reality, Perception, and TEA
One of the great experiences of my life was meeting a Calvinist evangelist. His name is John Blanchard, and I only “met” him in a fairly large group, but it was clear that he was genuinely an evangelist and genuinely a Calvinist. He was asked during a question and answer session just how he reconciled…