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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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Hangout on Social Justice
Update: We had audio problems. This hangout has been rescheduled to June 9, 2015. I’m hosting tonight’s Energion Hangout which is Social Justice: Good or Bad?. I’ll be interviewing Energion authors Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. (What Is Wrong with Social Justice, Preserving Democracy) discusses the impact and value of social justice with Rev. Steve Kindle (Stewardship:…
Interviewing Thomas Hudgins for According to John
You can go to the event for more information or watch using the embedded YouTube below. I’ll be talking to Thomas about the text of John and textual criticism in general for about half the time and then talking about John 17 in the second half with some discussion of rhetorical criticism.
According to John: I Have Overcome the World
I will resume my study of According to John tonight with chapter 12 of Herold Weiss’s book Meditations on According to John, I Have Overcome the World. We’re going to look at the meaning(s) of “world” in John and what it means to overcome it. You can either watch via the Google+ event or with…
According to John: Interview with C. Drew Smith
I know it’s very late, but I’ve had an extremely hectic week. Here’s the link for tonight’s hangout. I’ll be interviewing Dr. C. Drew Smith, author of Reframing a Relevant Faith. According to John: Interview with Drew Smith And the YouTube:
Unity and Bible Study
That’s a very broad title, but I do want to look at the connection. One of the places where we, as Christians, find the most disagreement is in our study of the Bible. In my view, there’s a good reason for this. The Bible is a complex book. Yes, one can find common themes, but…
When I Need to Restore My Focus
This: Not the best recording of her on YouTube, but my favorite.
According to John: The Law Was Given through Moses
Tonight in my study on John via Google Hangouts on Air I’m going to talk about the law and Jesus, Jews and Christians, and Judaism and Christianity. I’m embedding the player below. In the meantime, read 3 ways to Confront the New Antisemitism by Rabbi Evan Moffic. For tonight:
Why Jesus Had to Die
In the study of the gospel of John I’m doing via Google Hangouts on Air, last Thursday night’s session was titled “I Finished the Work.” This reflects Jesus confidence that he had completed his mission, even before he had died on the cross or risen from the dead. For many Christians the reason Jesus had…
According to John: I Finished the Work
Tonight (4/2/15) at 7:00 pm central time I’ll be continuing my study of John using the book Meditations on According to John by Herold Weiss. We’ll be working from chapter 10, “I Finished the Work.” This is an exceptionally good chapter to be studying on Maundy Thursday, though I’m going to assume nobody will miss…
Allan Bevere on the Left-Right Continuum
Allan Bevere says that the left-right continuum doesn’t work. He’s citing someone else’s work first, but he’s applying the results to theology and ethics as well as politics. I use the term moderate to describe both my own politics and faith. This results from my view that there are many different issues with a continuum…
Tonight on the Energion Hangout
Using Google Hangouts on Air I’ll be having a conversation with Nick May and Heath Taws, two authors who are also young adults involved in pastoral ministry. Join the excitement! Embedded YouTube player below:
Discussing Christian Unity Tonight
Last night I interviewed author Doris Horton Murdoch about the importance of testimonies. Here’s the YouTube: In the Energion hangout for Consider Christianity Week tonight I’ll be joining Joel Watts and Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. to discuss Christian unity. Joel posted about this event today on his blog. The time is 7 pm central time. You…
The Importance of Experience
I was thinking of titling this “In Which I Annoy My Evangelical United Methodist Friends,” since so many of them are talking about the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and trying to privilege scripture within it in some way. I am not entirely in sympathy with many of these approaches. You see, the moment I decided to take…
What the Greek REALLY Says!
This was so good I had to embed it!
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
This past Tuesday night I had a conversation about forgiveness (with a long interlude on fiction writing!) with author Nick May. Nick was a last minute stand-in for two guests. My wife Jody was unable to participate because of a sore throat. Renee Crosby, author of the recent release The Fringe, had catastrophic technical difficulties,…
John Walton on Different Hermeneutical Presuppositions
In an interview published on The Jesus Creed, though released by IVP, John Walton comments on different hermeneutical presuppositions. He is referring to the endless debates about how and when creation took place, but the ideas might be useful regarding other topics. Walton: We too easily believe that the world of biblical interpretation is a…
On Violence and Suffering
My friend and Energion author Allan Bevere posted this morning on this topic, and I want to call attention to it for several reasons. First, this is a topic I find very interesting. Second, I think it’s appropriate to discuss the problems of violence and suffering together at some points. Third, I don’t think that…
What Is Really Essential in Christianity?
On February 24, 2015, I hosted a discussion between Energion authors Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. and Alden Thompson on the topic Biblical Essentials. Here’s the YouTube: Today another Energion author, Dr. Allan Bevere, posted an entry on his blog titled Doctrine: The House in which the Church Lives. (Allan Bevere and Alden Thompson will be participating…
Hangouts this Week
On the Tuesday night Energion hangout I will have as my guests Energion author Renee Crosby, whose recent novel The Fringe (eucatastrophe press, an Energion imprint) is generating some discussion, and Jody Neufeld, who, of course, has been with the company from the beginning! Our second release (the first after I purchased the company) was…
Review of Creation in Scripture by Herold Weiss
Hanz Gutierrez has reviewed Creation in Scripture by Herold Weiss on the Spectrum Magazine web site. Spectrum is published by the Association of Adventist Forums. Many may not realize that Dr. Weiss is Seventh-day Adventist, though he clearly differs with the officially proclaimed church view on creation. He describes his journey in another book, Finding…
YouTube Video Issue
I have posted a number of YouTube videos recently before I noticed they made a change in how they share. You can now share as a playlist starting with the current video or embed the particular video. Since I’m including my study on the gospel of John in a playlist as well as embedding individual…
According to John: Excursus #2 – Interview with Dr. Herold Weiss
You can get more details on the Google+ event, and you can watch either through that link, or using the viewer below. I apologize for posting this so late. I will post the YouTube and some comments tomorrow. Dr. Weiss is the author of the book I’m using for this study, Meditations on According to…
From My Editing Work: What is Stewardship?
I’m editing the manuscript for a new Topical Line Drives volume, Stewardship: God’s Way of Recreating the World, by Steve Kindle. It’s currently scheduled for the end of May, but I’m hoping we’ll get it out a bit earlier. Here’s a taste: The apostle Paul revealed to us the key to successful fundraising in his…
Thomas Hudgins Looks at Literal in Translation
The term “literal,” when used regarding translation, can drive translators quite mad, I think. But it is a commonly used word in the pews and the hallways of churches. “We don’t take things that literally around here,” is something I hear regularly in United Methodist churches. Which leaves the question of just how do we…