Featured Posts
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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
Social Notes (see all)
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If True, This is Good
Public pressure is sometimes a good thing, as shown by this story on Rep. Jefferson. See my previous comment.
Why Force when you can Encourage?
I found this Washington Post article interesting. GM has a reputation for producing gas guzzlers here, but as a leader in fuel economy over in Europe. Why is this? “We could sell the OPC here and make money because gasoline is near $6 a gallon,” Lutz said. “If we had $6 gasoline in the United…
ESV Endorsements
I’ve written a considerable amount of negative stuff, not about the ESV itself, though I do have a few complaints, but about its supporters. Thus when a friend e-mailed me a new endorsement, I thought I’d take a look at why these endorsers regard the ESV so highly. The latest endorsement is ESV: the long-awaited…
Time for Church Accountability
Quite frequently I receive appeals for funds from various ministries. This is probably because I head an all-volunteer ministry, Pacesetters Bible School, Inc. and thus am readily connection with Christianity, non-profits, and thus charitable contributions. Now I have no problem with charitable organizations making appeals for funds, though my group limits appeals to people who…
Libby Found Guilty
Of course, if I reversed the numbers, I could say, “found not guilty.” He was found guilty of 4 of 5 counts, according to the Washington Post. I would hate to second-guess the jury, even though I have grave doubts on the average IQ of a jury that could survive voir dire under the circumstances….
Word Study Dangers: Your Dependence on Scholars
A young man in one of my classes once told me that he didn’t want to depend on scholars. His aim in attending my class on Bible study was to know for himself. Now this young man has an admirable goal, provided that you use “goal” in the same sense as one uses “north star”…
Two Stories about Prayer in School
. . . but they supposedly recount one incident. The first came to me via the Traditional Values Coalition alert e-mail, which is generally quite strident. It referred me to this story on Alain’s Newsletter, which tends to make the TVC alerts look calm, collected, and irenic. Now here’s another story, this time from The…
Moderate Christian Blogroll
I’ve been way behind on giving alerts to what is happening on the blogs of the Moderate Christian blogroll, so today I did a bit of work, and I think I’ve improved the options for linking to one another by providing an aggregator that itself has an RSS feed. This only allows either titles or…
Coops Series on the Atonement
Coops is doing a series on the atonement. He says: Being the seasoned theologian and all (sarcastic), I thought it would be a fantastic topic to get to know better – especially since I’ve heard quite a bit about it in liberal and emergent circles lately. It may be good to really get my head…
Hebrews Audio Series
Those who are following my irregular series on Hebrews on this blog may be interetest in the audio series that just started on the Pacesetters Bible School News Blog. This follows completion of the series on 1 Corinthians. This series has 15 messages, each about 20-25 minutes. They will be posted Monday through Friday in…
Theodicy and Openness Theology
Some time ago I made a few remarks on Dr. William Dembski’s article, Christian Theodicy in Light of Genesis and Modern Science (last accessed 3/4/07). I think it’s a wonderfully well-written article, though I disagree with his conclusions. I’m going to discuss this article a bit more, but first I want to cover one or…
Should a Pedophile be Welcome at Church?
I’m not sure how to react to this story, but I think it’s a good one for discussion. On MSNBC I found the following story: Sex offender can worship – with conditions. I find the story troubling. As a grandparent of 5, I have to ask whether I would regard it as safe to have…
Two New Gaps in the Fossil Record
I love it when these kinds of news stories hit the popular media. A new species of dinosaur was discovered by Michael Ryan in Alberta while he was a graduate student, and the find has now been published in the Journal of Paleontology, according to MSNBC. The dinosaur species is named Albertaceratops nesmoi, and it…
Commending an Honest Apology
Laura on Pursuing Holiness has now apologized for an earlier comment on Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. I share her original concerns about misreporting of numbers. I do believe that pastors are often careless with the details, thinking they are not terribly important. But especially when you’re in Rick Warren’s position, you can’t afford that….
Civility in Political and Religious Debate
Joe Carter at the evangelical outpost is going after Ann Coulter. He’s very concerned about civility: Our political culture has truly become debased when even conservatives now accept what James Q. Wilson has described as the elevation of self-expression over self-control. (Perhaps it is to be expected, though, of a movement that has replaced the…
The Definition of Reasonable
I have great sympathy with the Libby jury, which now wants to know just how to define “reasonable” according to this Washington Post story. I have always wondered just what “reasonable doubt” means, and it appears that lawyers really have very little idea either. Perhaps my own problem is that I find doubt so eminently…
Cassini-Huygens Pictures
These are not my usual fodder, but they are so good, I just had to call attention to them. You can find a catalog of them at NASA-Cassini-Huygens.
PERFECTLY SQUARE Fun in Pensacola
I talk quite a bit on this blog about diversity and the importance of dialogue and making the most of our differences, so it’s a pleasure for me to highly recommend a program here in the Pensacola area by someone from whom I have learned a great deal on unity in diversity, Dr. Dolly Berthelot….
Could I Be the Antichrist?
I found this article via WorldNetDaily: Pope is warned of a green Antichrist. According to Cardinal Biffi, who gave the Lenten message this year, the antichrist could be “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist”. OK, I resemble that remark. Of course, I’m not nearly important enough to be the actual antichrist. Probably I could just encourage…
A Dangerous Precedent?
I commented earlier on Rep. Jefferson and his planned appointment to the Homeland Security committee. Republicans are now planning to force a recorded vote on the appointment, according to a Washington Post report, on the assumption that some Democrats will be unwilling to go public with their support of this nomination. What’s more interesting to…
Why Authority Issues are Important
Via Pandagon I found this story, also reported here. These are serious accusations, and more and more people are coming forward. Such a story should emphasize several things to those of us who are in ministry, including how transparent our ministry practices should be. Teach and behave in such a way that an accusation such…
Diversity, Tent Ropes, and Tent Pegs
I have mentioned before that I’ve been writing some of the devotionals for my wife’s devotional list, and yesterday I wrote one that relates closely to some things I’ve written here about tolerance for diversity and yet having identity and anchor points. It’s titled Extend Ropes, Strengthen Stakes. For those who may be interested, Jody’s…
Christian Carnival CLXIII Posted
Christian Carnival CLXIII has been posted at Chasing the Wind. That’s a pretty theme there, and it fits the title, but it’s bright!
Rosenhouse Dissects Johnson
Jason Rosenhouse has an excellent discussion or even better dissection of some recent writing by Philip Johnson. I’ve had this partial entry on Johnson sitting amongst my drafts for ages, but since Johnson is now bringing forth many of the same arguments, and Rosenhouse has quite thoroughly demolished them, I will simply refer you to…