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
Eating the Bread – Missing the Sign
Our gospel passage (John 6:24-35) for Proper 13B is pretty tightly packed, so I’m going to write a couple of short articles about it this morning. I’ve thought about many things as I was reading this passage, but I won’t have time to write about them all. First of all, as I read this morning,…
A Different Look at Seeker Sensitivity
Doug Rea says all churches should be seeker sensitive, but who is seeking?
A Look at Reader’s Version of Greek and Hebrew Bible
A few days ago I found the Reader’s Version of Greek and Hebrew Bible (HT: Tim Ricchuitti), and while I think it is a good tool, I greet such tools with mixed emotions and I would like to point out some excellent uses for it, as well as some not-so-excellent uses. Much too often students…
Steve Hill on 1 Samuel 12 (Pr 13B)
This is Steve Hill on David and Bathsheba, challenging us all …
Congratulations to Houston Baptist University
… on their new Master of Arts in Biblical Languages. In growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church I got used to the idea that in order to teach Bible or become a pastor one started studying theology/religion at the undergraduate level and then continued at the graduate level with the fundamentals out of the…
On Evangelizing Atheists
Caraleisa has reposted her essay Repost: Sick and Tired of God-stuff; an open letter to theists. This is something she first wrote several years ago and has reposted unchanged. I think every Christian should read it. Just as Caraleisa stuck with her original post, I’m just going to link to my previous response: Witness Without…
Why Not Study the Bible?
You may think that a strange title for a post on Bible study blog. Obviously if you read this blog you must in some sense be interested in studying the Bible. But I want to direct this question specifically to Christian education leaders in churches. This is the time of year when curriculum is chosen. …
Resource Links
Bible Reading Sites The Bible Through the Seasons Biblical Languages Resources Reader’s Greek and Hebrew Bible
Repentance and Servanthood (Pr 13B)
I like to look for common themes in the lectionary passages. If I can find a way to use all four together on one topic, that’s even better. Proper 13B uses 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a (I’ve already discussed why I dislike cutting this off before verse 14), Psalm 51:1-12 (and I’d prefer to read the entire…
Lectionary Notes
One of my devotional practices is to keep track of the weekly lectionary texts (not the daily and often not special days during the week), and read them through daily using different versions and different reference sources. I keep notes online when I have time. I haven’t publicized this very much because I have been…
Cutting out the Tough Stuff (2 Sam. 11:26-12:13a)
I’m returning to these notes after the busiest winter, spring, and half of summer that I have ever experienced. I wrote a couple of notes, getting back to them in fits and starts, but I haven’t been able to sustain the writing time. During this time my company released four books, one of them in…
A Science Comedian
… no, really!
Christian Carnival CCLXXXVI Posted
… Thoughts and Confessions of a Girl Who Loves Jesus. Enjoy!
A Query for my Scientifically Oriented Friends
In an article on MSNBC’s Cosmic Log, titled How Politeness Evolved, I find the following quote: “It is far from obvious how turn-taking evolved without language or insight in animals shaped by natural selection to pursue their individual self-interests,” University of Leicester psychologist Andrew Colman said last week in a news release about the research….
Somewhat of a Calvinist?
Having located a Peter Kirk approved quiz, Testing Your C-Factor, I decided I really must take it. The results? I’m “somewhat of a Calvinist.” Really? I do like the part about being “slightly hedonistic.” Test your C-Factor: 53% You are somewhat of a Calvinist. Some of your points of view make you look like a…
Do We Live What We Believe
When one edits a book, one has an extraordinary opportunity to think multiple times about some of the statements. In the case of a revolutionary book such as The Jesus Paradigm, which is in the final stages before release, there are quite a number of such sentences. One of these impressed me enough that I…
Response to Sarah Palin Post
Elgin Hushbeck has written a response to my post Not Hating Sarah Palin, but with no trackback, I’m assuming some people may miss his response. While he didn’t change my mind, he deserves a response, but I don’t know how soon I’ll get back to the topic so as to write one. In the meantime,…
A Bowdlerized Lectionary Passage
There are a number of lectionary selections that skip part of a passage. Sometimes this is for time. Sometimes it relates to topic, but sometimes it is simply used to remove material that might offend. I like lectionary preaching and teaching. I think it forces pastors to get out of their comfort zones and expound…
Not Hating Sarah Palin
Mary Fairchild has a post today titled Sarah Palin: Why Some Love Her and Others Hate Her. Along with some other discussion, she writes: …Personally, I think it might have something to do with her allegiance to another kingdom, her ‘higher calling.’ As a follower of Jesus Christ, could it be that Sarah Palin knows…
N. T. Wright on Women in Ministry
It’s no surprise that I like this, considering it’s N. T. Wright. I like reading or listening to him even when I disagree. (HT: Allan Bevere) While I like his comments in general, I’m particularly interested in his approach to deriving his point from scripture. He goes first to the story. What was it that…
My Country, Right or Wrong?
Back in 2007 I wrote a post about patriotism in which I said: Im going to annoy quite a few people with this post, but I have noticed for a number of years that Christians in America often conflate Christianity and American patriotism. … I didn’t post on July 4th this year, but I did…
Hello world!
This is not a blog! Remarkable, isn’t it then, that I post something here and invite discussion. I am planning to use the WordPress software as a content management system, and the blog posts section to make a few rare announcements. In the meantime, this post will provide an open discussion area for response about…
Biblical Studies Carnival #43 Posted
… or prophesied, as the case may be, at kata ta biblia.