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Sorrow Like My Sorrow – Lamentations 1:12
Can we really understand the suffering of another person or they ours?
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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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Is Fake News an Epidemic?
I’ve watched with some annoyance as trust in the mainstream media (whatever that is) has diminished, to be replaced by trust in even less reliable news sources. Many media outlets earned popular contempt by their carelessness with the facts. My observation is that the news media have been more biased toward “shallow” than in any…
Community
Living in community requires sacrifice.
How Was Jesus Portrayed as Crucified to the Galatians?
You foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified? 2 I want to learn only one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard? (Galatians 3:1-2, ISV, from…
Approaching an Idiot
I saw a meme that read: Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot for any direction. My problem is that while I can readily identify a bull on the rare occasion when I see one, and horses are distinctive, idiots are ubiquitous and come in so many…
Executive Order Count
I’m glad someone is counting!
Of Hermeneutics and Annoyance
I tend to harp on hermeneutics. Sometimes that’s precisely what people want me to do. Groups that have me back to speak twice, at least, are generally happy with that topic. But others find it annoying, pedantic, and perhaps intellectually snobbish! “Why can’t we just read our Bibles and get on with it?” they ask….
Great Guide – Unreachable Goal
Pure exegesis is a great guide but an unreachable goal.
Marketing Jesus
Shortly after I separated from the Air Force I was chatting with a gentleman while waiting in line for something or other. On realizing that I was a veteran, and in fact had been somewhere that would qualify me as a veteran of a foreign war, he started a pitch to get me to join…
Seeking a Bible Topic
Franklin Graham is quoted by the Huffington Post as saying that the President Trump’s refugee ban is not a Bible topic. He actually said a bit more, but “not a Bible topic” is going to be the quote that follows him all the (remaining) days of his life. And well it should, though I think…
Lawyers and Politicians
We like to hate lawyers, but the real problem with our laws is that they are written by politicians.
The Complexity and Imperfection of Solutions
According to an NPR story, the clearance rate for murder, meaning the percentage of cases in which someone is arrested (or identified), is 64.1% nationally. This will vary by community. That means that a lot of murderers have not been identified and have been running around the country while being murderers. If that shocks you, color…
No YouTube Bible Study Tonight
I will resume the studies next Thursday night. Some unforeseen scheduling problems intervened.
Not Just Money
On New Year’s Day this year I was struck by two texts and decided to make them a kind of theme texts for living during the year. I didn’t really make a plan or a resolution. I was just impressed to keep these two texts available and look at them. I’ve found that I actually…
Wanting to Be Right Theologically
I work on a heavy schedule, and as someone who is self-employed, with two distinct lines of business, I very rarely see a blank to-do list. In fact, now that I think about it, it has been several years since I finished a day and could say I was done. I identify a couple of…
When Definitions Tangle: Law vs Law and Will vs Will
I might have said collide, as sometimes seems to be the case, but let’s start with tangle. Here’s Paul in Romans 2: 12 All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not…
Energion Tuesday Night Hangout
Tonight my guest will be Dr. Bob LaRochelle, author of books such as Crossing the Street and A Home United, and we’ll be talking about adolescents and faith. Bob is preparing a manuscript for release late spring or early summer on this topic. Join us and bring your questions. Learn More Learn More Learn More
Teaching How to Experience God
At my home church, Chumuckla Community Church, we’re going through the Experiencing God workbook. There will be 10 sermons, and then discussion groups. My wife Jody leads one right after church each Sunday, and I’m part of that. Doubtless someone will suggest that the book is somewhat more conservative than the theology I express on…
On Refugees
And now for a short post. Here’s one of many links to the stories: Trump vows ‘new vetting’ to weed out Islamic radicals. I try to avoid partisan politics on this blog, but on this issue I must be clear. I believe that we should be open to refugees even at very substantial risk to ourselves….
The Army Field Band Sings This Right
… even to this Air Force vet’s ears.
Galatians 2:16 – A Problem in Translation and Theology
I wanted to write a quick note here as this relates to my study tonight, as well as illustrating quite a number of translation problems. Here is our text, with CEV (NOT CEB) to the left, NRSV in the center as a “literal” comparison, and NLT to the right. I’m copying the NRSV notes as…
Bloody Sacrifices and Salvation
One of the problems with understanding biblical talk about salvation is that we do not live with a sacrificial system. For many Christians, the whole idea of sacrifices is that someone sinned and a bloody sacrifice was required for atonement. Christians believe that because of one bloody sacrifice, that of Jesus on the cross, no…
Perspectives on Paul: Law or Faith
Fair warning: I’ll probably be stuck on definitions. In fact, I’m in the process of writing a blog post about it right now. I’ll add a link to this one once the other is complete. (Here’s the link: Bloody Sacrifices and Salvation.) Here’s the viewer:
When the Bible Story Shocks
I read Joshua 24, including Joshua’s farewell speech today. There are quite a number of texts in this chapter that are quoted regularly without any knowledge of their source or of the circumstances. One is Joshua 24:15 “… as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Now there’s a pink elephant in…
Preaching: Value and Practice
Tonight I’ll be interviewing Dr. William Powell Tuck about the practice and value of preaching. Here’s the viewer. Learn More Learn More More Information Learn More