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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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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…
Seven Marks: Genuine Relationships
The fourth mark of a New Testament church that Dave Black finds in Acts he calls genuine relationships. The early believers devoted themselves to the fellowship, to their community. There are so many words for it. In America today we rarely think of the church as a community and even more rarely as our community….
Review – Tyndale Select NLT: Select Reference Edition
When the e-mail arrived offering me a copy of this gorgeous Bible edition, I didn’t really read the material thoroughly enough or I might have declined. I’m a content man. I have one complete bookcase and parts of three more dedicated to Bibles. Very few of them are special in terms of their binding. It’s…
Quote – Allegiance to God’s Realm
From Bob Cornwall posting on the Energion Discussion Network: I realize that some might find this affirmation of God’s realm a bit disconcerting. They might think that I’m recommending some kind of theocracy. In a way, I am, but not in the usual way of thinking. This isn’t a divine government imposed by an earthly…
Eschatology: Resurrection and Life after Death
I’ll be tackling this rather intense topic tonight and likely failing to hold it down and get it under control! Following the event I will post more resources. Informational Link: What Does It Mean to Survive Death? Google+ Event Page
Quote of the Day – Judging the Experience of Others
Since I’ve been talking about Seventh-day Adventists starting yesterday, due to the date, I thought I’d use an Ellen G. White quote. A friend called my attention to this today in a phone conversation. Every association of life calls for the exercise of self-control, forbearance, and sympathy. We differ so widely in disposition, habits, education,…
Resource Links for Eschatology Future and Present
This is strictly a links post, giving links to the resources I’ll be referencing tonight. First some of my own resources: Eschatology: Future and Present Announcing this study and giving some questions to consider taken from Eschatology: A Participatory Study Guide What Does It Mean to Survive Death? I discuss some of the vocabulary problems…
Adventists, Other Christians, and The Great Disappointment
Clipart Credit Substantially changing beliefs have been a defining characteristic of my life. That may be hard to comprehend. It’s even hard to write in a grammatical form. This admission makes some people uncomfortable. Why should they listen to me now, if I have already changed what I may have believed and advocated decades, years,…
Eating from My Garden
On the scale of cosmic events, this is somewhat less significant than the proverbial one beat of a butterfly wing, but today I ate something from my garden for the first time. It wasn’t planned. I had to thin my radishes, so I saved them and added some of the tops to my salad. I…
Eschatology: Future and Present
On Thursday night I’m going to do two things: 1) Present some material related to chapter 6 of Eschatology: A Participatory Study Guide (titled “Eschatology Future and Present”), and 2) Discuss October 22 as the anniversary of the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844, as it is recalled in Adventism. On Thursday I will also…
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…
Seven Marks: Excursus on Change
One of the most interesting and troubling things I’ve found about myself and my church (any of the churches of which I’ve been a member!) is the number of things we know we should do and even decide we will do, but which never get done. Seven Marks of a New Testament Church is certainly…
What Does It Mean to Survive Death?
In my Eschatology study last Thursday (Oct. 15, 2015) I tried to answer an audience question. Here it is: Is the sense of the presence of Jesus today dependent on the historical Jesus surviving death? Or, is it more like the presence of a departed parent that lingers after death? And here’s the video, set…