Featured Posts
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Fire – Lamentations 1:13
Discussing the symbolism of fire in scripture, highlighting its dual nature as both a sign of divine acceptance and judgment. It reflects on personal suffering and God’s sovereignty, emphasizing that while God’s fire can refine and cleanse, it often accompanies lament and discomfort, aligning with the broader pursuit of righteousness.
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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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More on Florida HB31 and Inspirational Messages
I wrote about this before, and commented that it seemed to accomplish nothing–nothing, that is, except to possibly encourage some school boards to tangle with the federal courts. That version, however, has been replaced in committee. I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, and put in a “tear line” so this won’t get…
Florida May Remove Church-State Separation from Its Constitution
SJR 2550 was passed out of the Senate Judiciary committee today. It would remove the provision that prohibits state money being spent “directly or indirectly to aid any church, sect or religious denomination.” It would also prohibit discriminating against someone who wanted to spend state program money they receive at a religious institution, such as…
Orbiting the Hairball
United Methodist district superintendent (Grand Rapids District) Laurie Haller takes a cue from a book on surviving in a corporate environment to make some suggestions for United Methodist leadership in her post Orbiting the UMC Hairball 4-12-10. Amongst other things she notes: The whispered truth is that The United Methodist Church suppresses creativity and genius…
Seventh-day Adventists and Women in Ministry
Well, really only some Seventh-day Adventists, in particular, Pastor Doug Batchelor and the Amazing Facts ministry versus the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. As a former SDA, I still keep track of SDA doings, in this case through the Spectrum blog, and what interested me was the role reversal. We frequently see more liberal…
Of Lists and Understanding
A couple of days ago I linked to a post by J. K. Gayle which is in response to John Hobbins on the question of listing things one needs to read in order to understand the Bible. I mentioned that I might sound more like J. K. Gayle than John Hobbins when I got around…
Michigan Messenger on Militias
I’ve been very favorably impressed with the work of the American Independent News Network, of which the Michigan Messenger is a part. They seem to be about going out and researching and solid information gathering. As I’ve written many times, I’m less concerned about balance–an ephemeral concept in my opinion–than about thoroughness. If you gather…
Link to Roundup on Bruce Waltke
Brian LePort has a good roundup of commentary on this issue which also mentions Tremper Longman. (HT: sunestauromai)
Of ID, Evolution, Christianity, and Blasphemy
There’s quite a bit of discussion amongst the blogs that cover creation and evolution regarding the claim that ID is blasphemy. I got started on this with Jason Rosenhouse on the Evolution Blog, but he got started with an article in the University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy by Peter M….
Who Do You Need to Be/Read to Understand the Bible
J. K. Gayle takes on John Hobbins’ question. Not precisely answers it. He takes it on. I have this post on my list of posts I want to respond to, but I haven’t yet had time. Let me simply state that there are few forms of writing to which I react more negatively than universally…
Bruce Waltke Resigns from RTS
Reformed Theological Seminary has announced that Dr. Bruce Waltke has resigned his position as professor of Old Testament at their Orlando campus. The blogosphere is pretty active on this story, including a story at Inside Higher Ed and a note on the BioLogos blog. The apparent starting point for this was a video of Dr….
Bruce Waltke Resigns
I’ve written a note on his resignation from RTS on my Threads blog.
Could We Have a Passionate Progressive Christian Revival?
In a guest post at Bob Cornwall’s Ponderings on a Faith Journey blog, Dr. Bruce Epperly of Lancaster Theological Seminary suggests just that. As a sample, he speaks of the conviction (nice evangelical word) he received from some words in a conversation: …we are involved in a type of spiritual warfare and that we, as…
Worldview Weekend on John Piper and Rick Warren
John Piper is a Calvinist, and I am so totally not, but I have a deep respect for him, in spite of many disagreements. That respect has been increased lately by his actions, both in taking a leave from his ministry and in inviting Rick Warren to speak at the Desiring God conference. It happens…
Kingdom Christians
Dave Black has a new essay titled Are You a Kingdom Christian?. This is something that is dear to my heart. I’ve written about it before from a different angle. He says: … For us, the human organization is somewhat arbitrary. I say this as a committed Baptist. Baptists are not the only true expression…
A Little Reconstruction
I’ve gone out on a limb and upgraded to WordPress 3.0 Beta 1, after trying it on a couple of test sites. It’s really working quite well. I’m rearranging some of the pieces of the blog. Everything should be working in the meantime, except that a few sidebar items may be missing.
Another Biblioblogger List
This time it’s from J. K. Gayle at Aristotle’s Feminist Subject. I’m not getting into this debate. In general, I’m going to link to any list that has me on it (it’s a nice thank you, I think), and to any list that I find interesting (that’s a service to my readers). I’m honestly not…
Journalism vs Blogging
I haven’t linked to Laura at Pursuing Holiness in some time, but this post regarding Helen Thomas’s comments on blogging got my attention. Whether one agrees on precisely how much bias there is in media and what the bias is–I happen to think the largest bias is to stupidity–one will surely note the concern that…
Michael Spencer – Internet Monk – Farewell!
A leading light in Christian blogging, with a challenging and varied blog, has gone on to glory after a battle with cancer. Chaplain Mike provides the news at the Internet Monk.
Free CEB New Testament
You can sign up. (Corrected Link for sign up.) They are only guaranteeing delivery for shipping addresses in the United States, but are working on others, and list a number of countries to which they should be able to ship as well. You can also still download a free copy of Matthew. I hope to…
The Nephilim have NOT been Found
Michael Patton blogs today about another way not to do apologetics, in this case responding to an e-mail he received claiming that giants had been found in Greece. The e-mail associated these giants with the Nephilim of scripture and claimed that the photos proved that the Bible was accurate. It shouldn’t be necessary to say…
Experiencing Resurrection
Adrian Warnock issued a 10 day empty grave challenge, asking Christian bloggers to write about the resurrection at some point before Easter. Even though I have yet to read his book (I’ll get to it sometime!), I thought I’d take him up on his challenge. Now the fact is that my experience differs from Adrian’s…
Christian Carnival CCCXXI Posted
… at who am i? (Sorry I’m late with the link!)
Biblioblog Top 50 Posted
… at Free Old Testament Audio. Surprisingly, considering how little I blogged last month and how much my 30 day Alexa number rose (not good!) I remain #9.
Quote of the Day – History Doesn’t Care
From Quadrilateral Thoughts: The nice thing about history, as Gamaliel once reminded us, is that it doesn’t care who you are, how much power you have, or how loudly you can shout. History, like truth, simply doesn’t care about people’s feelings. The Flood comes, some people are saved, some people drown with “Oops” as their…