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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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Bible Study for Monday, July 28
Well, we didn’t do so well this past Monday, but a new week is coming! On Monday, July 28, we will meet again via Google Hangouts, with the announcement via e-mail (if you’ve requested one), or on my Google+ page. Jody has already posted the question for this coming Monday and the scriptures: The Scriptures…
Breaking Homeless (and other) Stereotypes
The title of this blog, Threads from Henry’s Web, suggests that I’m the one producing the threads and hopefully drawing you in. But often the threads are leading me somewhere. Some things happened in just the last couple of weeks: A conversation with an author about a new book talking about those living on the…
Patently False Church Sign
I was stopped at a light and saw this church sign. Yep! I did! I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture. (It was a long red!) It’s nonsense. It’s a particularly bad use of the slippery slope argument. A free society depends on us permitting things that we do not promote. I permit…
Work Glitch and Bible Study
Something happened on the way to Bible study, and we were unavailable. We apologize profoundly to anyone who showed up. We will resume next Monday night. We’ll announce the topic tomorrow.
Lost and Found (Fiction Version)
I’ve written a short story to (hopefully) help stimulate thought about Lectionary Proper 12A, which we’ll be discussing at our online Bible study on Monday night.
Next Monday Night Bible Study (Proper 12A)
Jody has already announced this, but our texts Monday night will be: Lectionary texts: 1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 119:129-136 Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-52 Opening question: What is THE treasure? Or: is the kingdom seeking you or are you seeking the kingdom? No, not the same question, but they may shed light on one another.
The Lively Inspiration of Scripture
A Living Bible. Process theology affirms the lively inspiration of scripture. God was at work in the communities that shaped our written scriptures and in the various writers who penned the library of texts we call the Bible. Profoundly historical, biblical inspiration varies from verse to verse and chapter to chapter. Some biblical messages have…
Bible Study Report – July 14
Last night’s Bible study hangout was attended by five people, and I believe enjoyed by all concerned. We discussed the wheat and the weeds along with several other passages, including Psalm 139 (the whole Psalm, not the portions selected for the Lectionary). I’ll be posting our passages and the theme we’ll look for in them…
Monday Night Bible Study Link
Here’s the hangout link: https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/gwqtzeablknxgpy4qwmwqau7cqa All are welcome!
What Do We Judge?
Tonight’s topic for our Bible study on Google Hangouts comes from the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matt. 13:24-43). To me, this passage is as interesting for the other passages it evokes as it is for what it says. And like many parables, it seems to raise as many questions as it answers….
Background Article for Monday’s Bible Study
Bob MacDonald sent me the following link: Growing Wheat. This provides some good background information on the parable. Remember, however, to consider the question in the light of all the passages and don’t be afraid to read more widely for context or for more parallels. You can find information on the study here.
Next Week’s Bible Study
Our first try didn’t go that well. I spent a couple of hours talking to folks about technical issues. You ned to have Google hangouts working. If you want I can test it with you sometime before the study. This coming week we’ll be studying for proper 11A, and we have selected Isaiah 44:6-8, Psalm…
New Monday Night Bible Study
My wife Jody and I will be leading a Monday night Bible study via Google Hangouts. Everyone is invited. Jody already posted about it, and her post includes the initial question and the scriptures for tonight. We thought about many approaches to choosing our texts, and we finally settled on using the current readings from…
More Editing Work – a Link
My wife Jody also edits. She’s posted something from an upcoming release: From My Editing Desk: The Unbroken Road by Katy Isaacs. Enjoy!
From My Editing Work: Personal Salvation vs the Social Gospel
From Seven Marks of a New Testament Church by David Alan Black, p. 6: In the fourth place, evangelism in the New Testament was always characterized by genuine concern for the social needs of the lost. When I was in seminary, a good deal of distrust existed between those who emphasized personal salvation in evangelism…
The Problem with Church Debates
It hit me on Sunday as I was listening to a fine sermon for Pentecost at my home church, First United Methodist Church of Pensacola. Rev. Bob Sweet was enumerating a number of things the Holy Spirit might do for us, changes we should all make. A number of his points elicited laughter, because we…
What Am I Doing?
What’s that picture? I’m glad you asked. That’s my computer with layout work for the forthcoming Spanish translation of Dave Black’s Greek grammar. It’s an interesting bit of work. I was thinking yesterday that it doesn’t get much tougher than this, but then I recall working in graduate school on translating Akkadian into English using…
In the Confessions of Category
We didn’t plan it this way, but my friend and Energion author Dave Black now has a book with a subtitle that begins with “Confessions of …” So what do I mean “not planned” and why is this significant? Well, I wrote a book several years ago, and the subtitle began with “Confessions of …”…
Meditations on According to John
Anyone who has made a serious effort to teach from the Gospel of John has likely experienced the difficulty of giving people a clear picture of the connections between various parts of the book, not to mention the frequent allusions to passages in the Hebrew scriptures. One can easily run out of fingers to “hold…
In the UMC Debate, Keep This in Mind
… from Joel Watts on Maxie Dunnam.
In Which I Question My #UMC Membership Vows
There’s been a great deal of talk about schism in the United Methodist Church (#UMC) over the last couple of days. It hasn’t disturbed me in the way it has disturbed many of my friends, but it has made me ask this question: Why? No, not why might we have schism. Why don’t I care…
A Muslim Comment on the Mariam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag Case
From time to time I hear the question regarding some act of terrorism, or by some act of a Muslim government: Where is the Muslim outrage? I first want to note that I find measuring online outrage to be a somewhat hopeless task. I am outraged at many things that I never manage to mention…
From My Editing Work: Greater Works
From my reading in Meditations on According to John (forthcoming next week) by Herold Weiss, pp. 91, 92: … Jesus’ work was consummated when he was lifted up, on the third day, on the cross. It is, therefore, somewhat disconcerting to read the promise Jesus makes to those who believe in him: “He who believes…
To a Generation yet to Be Born
This is my mother, who will be 96 at the end of May. She’s looking over a book titled Seeing the Psalter. She spent a good hour with it, commenting on methodology and various translations. How can she do this? Well, after years as a missionary nurse, she decided to take Hebrew and completed two…