Featured Posts
-
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…
-
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…
-
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)
All Posts
Replacing Social Darwinism
Well, the label at least. I think we’d like to ditch the concept as well, but that’s probably harder. I suspect ditching the label won’t work either. But Michael Zimmerman would like to do it and I agree with his reasons, even though I suspect people will continue to use the label that best advances…
Judge Jim Gray on Drug Legalization
One of the things that annoys me in our national discourse is the way those on the left refuse to recognize the inefficiencies of government on their favorite projects while those on the right do the same thing with theirs. The phrase “legitimate function of government” is a license to all sorts of evils, most…
Finding and Protecting the Essentials
I’ve written several times before about looking for the essentials of the Christian faith, most recently in my discussion of what a successful United Methodist Church would look like. I maintain that it is important to identify what are essentials, and to have a well-selected set that will provide identity for an organization. Of course,…
Book Notes: Roetzel on 2 Corinthians
I’ve given up the enterprise of reading this book through from cover to cover, so these notes are based on using it as reference while I’m reading 2 Corinthians itself. The fact is that I found the book impossible to read straight through. As I mentioned previously in using it as a comparison to Matera’s…
Respect for Other Prayers
According to the Christian Post: About a dozen delegates did not attend the prayer of Johari Abdul-Malik. “I’m going to be somewhere else saying the Lord’s Prayer,” Delegate John Cox (R-Ashland) told CBN News. “It’s just not something that I feel like I can condone as an individual.” Yet when I get into conversations on…
Christian Carnival CCCXVIII Posted
… at RodneyOlsen.net. Check it out!
Special Prices on Resources for Students at Bibles.com
I’m not a student (at least in the traditional sense), but looks good. Check it out. (HT: New Testament Resources)
On the Old Testament and Vengeance
Peter Kirk linked to my post on “an eye for an eye” in responding to David Ker’s post What to do with the vengeance in the Old Testament? Skip it! As a result I’ve been able to follow a rather substantial number of posts discussing this issue. One of these comes from John Hobbins, who…
Divining the Voice of God
I spend a good deal of time talking in my book (When People Speak for God) about discerning God’s voice and also about the way that people use the phrase “God told me” and its like in a manipulative way. Today on the Spectrum blog, James Coffin has a post titled Divining the Voice in…
REB Module for e-Sword
I previously reviewed e-Sword and found it a pleasant surprise in the free Bible software category. Note that my review was written in 2006, within a few days of my starting this blog, and a great deal has happened since then. Hopefully I will manage to write an updated review soon. But there is more…
Hobbins on Leviticus 25
John Hobbins is starting a series on Leviticus 25. It looks interesting.
Church Sign: An Eye for an Eye
At first glance, this is a good sign for a Christian. After all, Jesus replaces “an eye for an eye” with “Do not resist the one who is evil” (Matthew 5:38-39). But I think it illustrates the way we fail to understand certain phrases as they were intended. “An eye for an eye” or lex…
Is Canonical 2 Corinthians a Hypothetical Reconstruction?
As I’ve noted before, I’m now reading Calvin J. Roetzel, 2 Corinthians, in the Abingdon New Testament Commantaries series. I want to emphasize here that I accept the use of historical-critical methodology in Bible study. That does not, however, force me to find all critical theories plausible. I’m arguing against this specific set of theories,…
Quote of the Day
From the Wesley Report: Mainline Protestant Christianity has become known for leaving people in slavery, because somewhere along the way, our strategy changed from leading people out of Egypt to planting churches along the Nile. And that’s why mainline denominations continue to lose members. People don’t need churches to help them stay in slavery– they…
Commentary: II Corinthians (NTL)
Learn More I have really enjoyed studying 2 Corinthians with this commentary. Since I’ve used a number of volumes from the New Testament Library before, the easiest evaluation of this commentary I can give is that it meets and in some cases exceeds the expectations I have of volumes in the New Testament Library series….
A Brief Thought on Partitioning Epistles
I’ve just completed reading Frank J. Matera’s II Corinthians: A Commentary in the New Testament Library series. I’m going to post a few notes in review of that commentary, but this is just a brief note, a passing thought, and definitely not a completed theory. There are many cases in which critical theories about authorship…
Dangers of Superficial Bible Study
I was reminded of this by two events during the last week. First, the arrival of copies of my new book with co-author Rev. Geoffrey Lentz. One of the things we emphasize in that book is hearing what the text is actually saying before trying to explain it. This is a difficult task, probably impossible…
Christian Carnival CCCXVII Posted
… at my Jevlir Caravansary blog. I’m obviously delighted with myself, thus the link!
How About Planting a Church?
That’s what Allan Bevere suggests as the ordination process, based on his experience in Cuba. I find the idea attractive, at least for certain types of ministry. There might be other ways to test various gifts. It does relate to a problem I’ve noted amongst United Methodist ministers, many of whom come out of seminary…
Book: For Girls Only! Devotions
Some of you may justifiably ask just what some guy moving on through middle age is doing writing a review of a book whose title starts For Girls Only! And that was indeed my reaction when I first saw the book in an e-mail from Tyndale House. Indeed, I had just about deleted the e-mail…
What Would a Successful UMC Look Like?
Ex-UMC, now megachurch pastor Craig Groeschel offers six suggestions for the United Methodist Church, packaged in six brief blog posts. I think that there is much worth considering in his suggestions, though I don’t think they are generally all that new. There’s something that bothers me in the whole discussion, however. In practically every debate…
Christian Carnival CCCXVII Call for Submissions
I’m going to be hosting the next Christian Carnival at The Jevlir Caravansary, my fiction and poetry blog. The carnival is posted each Wednesday, and submissions are due by midnight Tuesday, though they are welcomed earlier. You can submit your entry using the submission form at blogcarnival.com. Check out the requirements for inclusion, and then…
The Kingdom of God is a Monarchy
Shane Raynor just posted on this again, reposting his response to Brian McLaren’s article from 2006. I went back and checked out the article I wrote back in 2006 on this and found out that it got mangled in one or another of the moves this blog has undergone. I agree with Shane on this….
Biblioblog #9 This Month
Thanks to Jeremy for all the hard work in producing the Biblioblog Top 50 this month. Even though I lost ground in my 30 day Alexa ranking, it was still good enough for #9. By the way Joel, writing a script is also work. Few seconds? It is to laugh!