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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The Importance of Little Things
I’m working on a programming project for the IT side of my business today and I was reminded of the importance of little things. When I’m programming and something goes wrong, my tendency is to look for big things. For example, there was a problem in this program with handling time zone data. Time codes…
Tuesday Night Hangout on Air
Salvation: Who and How? You can get more details by following the link.
Thursday Night Eschatology Study – Isaiah Part 2
I’m starting in about 15 minutes. Tonight I’m going to be looking at Revelation 21 & 22 and their use of 3rd Isaiah (chapters 56-66). I want to look at how imagery is used and reused and how this impacts the way we interpret. Google+ Event Page
Identifying Extremes – Examining Everything (An Example)
This morning Dave Black posted some things about reading Hebrews from the Good News Bible (TEV) and also on authorship and canonicity. I’m not posting to enter into a debate on this point, but rather to note an attitude. Dave says: The undeniable reality is that questions of canon and authorship matter. Of course, both…
Eschatology: Isaiah – 1
I’ve posted the event for my study on eschatology tonight. I’ll be looking at Isaiah for at least two sessions, the first focused on the servant passages as an exercise in interpretation, and the second on the language of the latter chapters and how it is incorporated into apocalyptic and in turn into our eschatology.
Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism in Soteriology
This past week on the Energion Discussion Network two answers were posted to the question “Can the great religions be vehicles of salvation for their followers?” Answering “Yes” was Dr. Herold Weiss, and answering “No” was Dr. H. Van Dyke Parunak. Both are authors published by my company, Energion Publications. I enjoyed reading the responses…
From My Editing Work: Faith, Hope, and Love Together
From the forthcoming book Meditations on the Letters of Paul by Herold Weiss: The mind does not operate in a vacuum. As it operates it expresses itself in a concrete environment through the body. Faith and hope may be thought as purely intellectual activities – but Paul says “Not quite!” Christian faith and hope cannot…
No Thursday Night Study Tonight
Due to lost time in December I’m facing a huge stack of tasks to catch up on, so I won’t be doing my study tonight. The study on eschatology will resume January 14 at 7 pm central time when I will begin to discuss the latter chapters of Isaiah and the imagery they contribute to…
An Exercise in Math Illiteracy
As an exercise in math illiteracy it would be hard (though likely possible) to beat How to Pick Your Powerball Numbers from ABC News. If you are allowed to work without context (sample size, population size, etc) you can make anything sound useful.
Church as a Social Occasion
Or perhaps as the social occasion. Thom Rainer has a post titled Seven Things Church Members Should Say to Guests in a Worship Service. It comes complete with a header picture of people who, to me, look like they’re forcing excessive smiles. I probably see it that way because I’m an introvert. I suppose that…
My List of Things that Should Be Banned for 2016
Lists of things that should be banned
Eschatology and Advent
Tonight will be my last study hangout for the year as I look at eschatology and advent. You can see more at the Google+ event page. In January I will restart this series by looking at Isaiah. Here’s the YouTube:
Is There Such a Thing as a New Testament Church?
I’m planning to finish resume and complete my blog series on Seven Marks of a New Testament Church with added commentary from the books Thrive: Spiritual Habits of Transforming Congregations, and Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel. This process was interrupted by SBL, by some bug I picked up in…
Christmas Chat Tonight
I will join my wife Jody and artist and copy editor Jan Edmunds for a chat about the meaning of Christmas tonight. Google+ Event Page YouTube:
Yes, Your Religious Group SHOULD Be Subject to Analysis and Criticism
… and so should mine. There are quite a number of ideas that I believe are quite good when practiced voluntarily, and become dangerous and destructive when backed by force. For example, let’s take “political correctness.” Much of what is labelled political correctness is, in my opinion, simple courtesy. Notice the bold text. I think…
That Law Doesn’t Apply to You
Jody and I are teaching Sunday School tomorrow, and the starting point is the Adult Bible Studies Uniform Series, Winter 2015-2016. Thus we start the Advent season by studying the 4th commandment (the Sabbath command; some count these differently) and related texts. If you know me, you’ll probably know that I’m not a fan of…
Eschatology, Ezekiel, and the Glory of God
Tonight I’ll continue my discussion of Ezekiel, which I see as a book that stands somewhat between classical prophecy and apocalyptic, though more on the side of classical prophecy. Nonetheless you’ll see aspects of the structure and language of Ezekiel in much of apocalyptic literature, enough so that I would suggest that being acquainted with…
On Publishing a Book I Can’t Read
I suppose it had to happen sometime. Well, not really. I could have said no. But I have now taken a step off the edge and published a book I can’t even read. It’s in Simplified Mandarin. I got the translation, did the layout, and then had it checked by the translator. I ran some…
No Crime so Heinous
There is no crime so heinous that we should punish someone who didn’t commit it. I’ve said this frequently about domestic crime. It seems obvious, but it is also something we forget when somebody has committed a crime and somebody has been accused of the crime. People who have no idea what the evidence is…
Gardening: A Small Encouraging Result
I have in my aging mind this idea that a younger me—say early teens—was a reasonably good gardener. Present activities do not support this, unless I have lost all the talent over the years. My garden has been very good as relaxing activity. It has gotten me out of doors more so that I get…
Eschatology: Ezekiel 1 – II
Google+ Event Page YouTube: My post is very late, so I expect I won’t have a live audience tonight at all (they’re always very small), but still I need to provide the link for those who watch later. There will be some interesting connections tonight with my discussion with Steve Kindle (and his book I’m…
Eschatology: Ezekiel and the Line Between Prophecy and Apocalyptic
Tonight I’ll be spending most of my time in Ezekiel 1 along with dealing with some background. I’ll follow this next week by looking at the glory of the Lord in Ezekiel as a guide to the theme of the book. Finally, I’ll look at the temple vision as part of looking at what is…
Dave Black on the Movie Woodlawn
You can grow old, die, and become a legend in the time it takes me to watch a movie following its release. So don’t wait for me! Dave Black has seen the movie Woodlawn and has dutifully commented on his blog, and had his remarks posted on Alvin Reid’s blog. Since Dave was (actually) an…
The Testimony of Becky Lynn Black
Tomorrow is the 2nd anniversary of Becky Lynn Black’s homegoing. Dave has been posting some testimonies on his web site. I never met Becky, so I can’t relate personal experiences. But there is a way for me (and others) to learn from her. I’m going to post my publisher’s foreword to her book My Life…