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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…
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Eschatology: Daniel 9 – 2
Tonight I’ll be discussing various understandings of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 with Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. Google+ Event Page YouTube:
Tonight on the Energion Tuesday Night Hangout: Age of the Earth and some Textual Discussion
Tonight on the Energion Tuesday Night Hangout, Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. will interview author Jay Hall regarding his book on the age of the earth, and then Elgin and I will be joined by Thomas Hudgins for a discussion of some translation/interpretation issues (to be determined as we go!). Google+ Event Page YouTube:
The Apologetics of Hebrews – Can You Defend a Dead Church?
In Hebrews 2:1-4 I believe the author of Hebrews provides a basic apologetic outline, and I think it’s a very useful one to follow. After the first two verses, which start from a platform that was already accepted by the audience, the author emphasizes the importance of the decision. If he is right in what…
Translating Hebrews 2:6-8 – Gender, Number, and Breaking the Discourse
I’ve written about this a couple of times before, though using the NIV1984 and NIV2011, in A Gender Neutral Example – Hebrews 2:6-8 and Quick Follow-up on Hebrews 2:6-8. I covered most of the key issues in those two short posts, but to summarize quickly, I note the questions of how one should translated the…
Eschatology: Daniel 8 with Intro to Daniel 9
Update: I want to provide two reference links. These are not specifically recommended as better than others, but rather as somewhat representative of their category. The first, giving Daniel 9 (the 70 weeks prophecy) in an historicist context, is The Seventy Week Prophecy of Daniel (Bible Light). The second, showing a futurist interpretation, is Daniel…
Eschatology: Daniel 8
Tonight I’ll continue my study of eschatology by looking at Daniel 8. This is a fairly straightfoward chapter to interpret with a great deal of the interpretation provided right in the text. The most interesting element, I believe, is to look at its place in the structure of Daniel and how it impacts our understanding…
Seven Marks: Fervent Prayer
The sixth mark Dave discusses in Seven Marks of a New Testament Church is fervent prayer (pp. 39-42). There are a variety of views of what it means to be “the church” or what it means to be Christian. For some, it’s a matter of holding the correct set of beliefs. One knows that certain…
Translating Poetry
On March 24, 2016, blog entry marked 11:40 AM, Dave Black talks about translating poetry and links to his essay on the topic from a Festschrift, available via Google Docs. Reading Dave’s comments about translating poetry reminded me of one of my favorite translations of poetry from any language to any other, Max Knight’s translations…
C. S. Lewis on Dogs and Cats
Yes, he had an opinion: To Mary Willis Shelburne (3/21/1955): “We were talking about Cats & Dogs the other day & decided that both have consciences but the dog, being an honest, humble person, always has a bad one, but the Cat is a Pharisee and always has a good one. When he sits and…
My Church Preferences
A few months ago a friend, commenting on my approach to publishing, and really to many other things, said, “It’s hard to be both a prophet and a facilitator.” Now he wasn’t talking about the way a prophet might get his or her words from God, but rather that prophets advocate ideas. Facilitators encourage others to…
Good Friday
It’s the evening of Good Friday and I find myself a bit too tired to blog coherently or to come up with some uplifting words. I generally try not to write when I feel this way. No use spreading the weariness around. But of course Good Friday was a day that made something like my…
Eschatology: Daniel 7, Symbols, and Visions
I’ll be addressing some additional points about dating and prediction as well, while emphasizing the symbols and imagery and what the book would have sounded like to those who first read it. Google+ Event Page YouTube:
Abusing Polls
I suspect that most of the times numbers are used in the media, people are being misinformed in some way. Frequently it’s by ignoring the margin of error. I’m going to discuss this with others on this afternoon’s Global Christian Perspectives. I’m providing a couple of links: Polling Fundamentals: Total Survey Error – explanation of…
Thursday Night Study: Paul’s Eschatology with Dr. Herold Weiss
On Thursday night I’ll be interviewing Dr. Herold Weiss, author of Meditations on According to John and the forthcoming Meditations on the Letters of Paul, to be released this week. We’ll be talking about Paul’s eschatology and how critical it is to understanding Paul’s theology. Google+ Event Link YouTube Viewer:
Tonight on the Energion Hangout: The Cross and the Resurrection
I’ll be interviewing Bill Tuck and Bob McKibben. Details at Energion News. Time: 7 pm central.
Eschatology: Daniel Passage-by-Passage
I’ll be looking at chapters 6 & 7 tonight, though 7 will doubtless stay in focus as we go through 8 & 9. Google+ Event Page YouTube:
No Thursday Night Study Tonight
I’m fighting a cold and will not try to talk for an hour on the hangout on air. I’ll announce one for next week when we’ll continue the study of Daniel. Also, Dr. Herold Weiss has agreed to join me again for an interview on Paul’s eschatology. We will shortly be releasing his new book…
Hangout on Air Tonight: Salvation (Universalism, Pluralism, Inclusivism, Exclusivism)
On the Energion Hangout tonight I’ll be hosting Dr. Bruce Epperly and Dr. Allan Bevere to discuss salvation in Christian theology and the terms I’ve listed. Doubtless many others will come up. The Energion Discussion Network resource page for this discussion is Soteriology. Click here for the Google+ Event Page.
Caring about Credibility
I’m sometimes disappointed with posts that don’t attract comments compared to those that do. I’m not talking about my site, where comments are few and far between. Right now I’m looking at a post on the Energion Discussion Network, titled Credible Christians for a Credible Gospel. It was written by Allan Bevere, and makes an…
Why I Believe in Courtesy
(Image Credit: OpenClipart, qubodup) It seems that many people believe that in order to be firm in one’s convictions, one must be arrogant, loud, and generally rude. Rude and angry speech is praised as telling it like it is. Courtesy is often ridiculed with the incredibly overused term “political correctness.” I object to political correctness…
Global Christian Perspectives
I’ll be joining Chris Eyre and Elgin Hushbeck on Today’s Global Christian Perspectives:
Eschatology: Daniel Verse-by-Verse III
I am a bit rushed, so here are the links without much comment. Google+ Event Page YouTube:
Eschatology: Daniel Verse-by-Verse II
I’m continuing with the dream of Daniel 2 and hopefully connecting it to the golden image of Daniel 3. I’m grotesquely short of time, so will spend it both reading and doing what has to be done! Google+ Event Page YouTube:
Seven Marks: Christ Centered Gatherings
It has been some time since I posted my last installment of my discussion of the book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church by David Alan Black, along with some commentary from the books Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel, by Bruce Epperly and Thrive: Spiritual Habits of Transforming…