Is it just me, or are some Christians putting too much emphasis on the Gospels?
There’s a lot of talk about the Kingdom of God in the Gospels. That gets many people off on the wrong track entirely.
Some people are always quoting the parables or Jesus’ sermons. All of these things need some further elaboration, footnotes or clarification, not to mention lots of additional verses from the rest of the Bible.Continue reading “Put A Warning On The Gospels”
A friend of mine recently said, “It sure seems that you’ve gone through a lot of phases during your time as a blogger.”
I’m sure it seems that way, but most of that is an illusion of the blogging life. The people around me wouldn’t have any major change in my beliefs to report since I abandoned Calvinism a few years ago.
I’m not one of those communicators who preaches and teaches my blog. Quite the opposite. I preach assigned texts and topics. I teach Bible survey and stay with the syllabus. If I’m thinking through some major shift in my eschatology or how I plan to live out the Gospel, you’d have to follow me to my blog to notice. You won’t hear about it around here in the real world.Continue reading “How I’ve Changed: Ten Ways”
Thoughts on the SOM; Invitationalism revisited; How I’ve changed.
You all need to buy “The Gospel for Those Broken by the Church” and more Reformation theology gifts from New Reformation Press.
Podcast 40 Is Richard Dawkins the best atheism can do? (A review of “The God Delusion Debate” DVD.)
The podcast website is Coffee Cup Apologetics.
All the episodes of Coffee Cup Apologetics are now on iTunes. Go to iTunes and search for “Apologetics.â€
Tony Jones sent me his new book The New Christians, and I’ve been looking at some of the resource material on Emergent Village. I’ve been very encouraged the the Values and Practices Statement from Emergent Village. In my own journey to create a Jesus-shaped spirituality, I was particularly challenged by the first section: Commitment to God in the Way of Jesus. It says:Continue reading “Riffs: 04:21:08: The Emergent Village Statement of Values and Practices”
“Now – here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart
that I doubt I shall ever achieve again,
so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words.
My secret is that I need God –
that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.
I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving;
to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness;
to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to loveâ€
– Life After God, Douglas Coupland, (p. 359) HT to Tim at Sacrosanct Gospel
Did you ever wonder why Jesus didn’t call anyone from the religious establishment or extant established religious movements to be one of his disciples? I think I’m starting to see it more clearly, both in the gospels and in my own experience.Continue reading “What Kind of Person Will Be A Disciple?”
I’ve been in a verse-by-verse study of I and II Timothy this year with several other men on our staff. We had an interesting discussion on this passage and its application in various contexts.
II Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
You have to be careful what you say to an American Christian.
Paul is speaking in II Timothy 3 about the lessons Timothy has learned from watching Paul’s own ministry. One of those lessons was the certainty of persecution.Continue reading “Are American Christians “Persecuted?””
At the Asbury Bloggers Society meeting last night, we had a wide ranging discussion on various aspects of blogging and ministerial formation at the seminary level. One of my suggestions was that a blogger develop a list of “teaching” blogs that exhibit and demonstrate excellence. Use these blogs to ask yourself questions about your own blogging and to develop some idea of what kind of blog will be effective in your own particular vision of blogging. Let these blogs be your teachers as you undertake blogging as part of your ministry or personal spiritual formation.
Of course, I was asked to put forward my own list of blogs that amount to a “School of Good Blogging.” So here’s the faculty. Sign up for the classes.
NOTE: I appreciate the blogs, not necessarily the content, theology or commentary of the blogger.Continue reading “The Distinquished Faculty of the IM School of Blogging”
Here’s one of my favorite major essays on Biblical interpretation. Lots of important ideas here that I’ve put together in my own approach to scripture. Yes, it’s a long one, but I think it will be worth the time for those interested in the subject.
Learning to read the Bible in a way that puts the focus where it is supposed to go- on the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator- is an important step in Christian growth. So many of evangelical problems come from simple mistakes in reading the Bible as a collection of verses, rather than as a collection of books.
Read the original (written back when I was a Calvinist): On Christless Preaching.
Recently I was traveling to a conference with a friend, and I listened to a sermon. Preached by a Christian, a Baptist, a minister at a church, a graduate of a Christian school training ministers to serve and communicate Jesus.
This preacher gave a message that he had worked hard to prepare; a message he had presented before. A message he deeply believed in.
It was a message well organized, passionately delivered and completely sincere. It was a message with an application about having a purpose in living that many people need to hear.
So why am I writing about that sermon? Did it change my life?Continue reading “No Jesus Needed”
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