I will move this to “best books” in a week or two, but for now, I want to add Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age to my list of books I believe every pastor should read. This book came out in 2007 and I am embarrassed to say that it took […]
From the Gospel According to Bob 12:21-34 “Then, they went aside to a quiet place, and in the shade of a sycamore tree they rested. Jesus spied a wall covered in vines, heavily weighted down by wild grapes. Taking one, he placed it in his mouth, and an ecstasy came […]
My posts of the past two weeks have generated some fun and interesting discussions around Christmas. While I am not a fan of the “war on Christmas” rhetoric adopted by evangelicals operating from a victim mentality, I do agree that Christmas as a religious observance is in trouble. My contention, […]
I may get blasted on this. That’s okay. I am sharing almost twenty years of similar responses here, and I think we — especially clergy — need to listen. Laity across the United Methodist Church are sending four messages loud and clear: prayer, stewardship, evangelism and Bible are NOT being […]
For years I have been afraid to admit something. There is a sin in my life so dark and so reprehensible that I barely can admit it to myself. It is a nagging sin, and one that I know I should be ashamed of, but I am not. I know […]
It always amazes me when fairly modern interpretations of scripture are represented as “traditional” or “ancient.” Most moralizing uses of scripture are as recent as the Victorian era (1837~1901), and many date back to the Puritan era (1550s~1660s) but almost none have anything to do with their original meaning. Most of our Hebrew […]
I shared some thoughts from an email exchange with a young pastor on the west coast (Open to Interpretation), and he sent me a short response to post. So here it is, Josh’s response: Hey, I’m Josh, I’m single, I’m twenty-eight, I have an M.Div. from Illif, and I now […]
I have been engaged this week in a lively, fascinating email exchange with a young male pastor out west over the interpretation of scripture. Think of the “hi, I’m a Mac/hi, I’m a PC” ads. For the sake of the illustration, I obviously am the PC… Anyway, my friend and […]
Q: What is the number one complaint of seminary students when they serve in the local church? A: What they learn in class they can’t teach in the local church. It seems that the quest for knowledge ends for many at the church door. A significant number of American Christians […]
It’s hard to justify the need for yet another Bible — there are a whole bunch out there from the ridiculous to the sublime — but the new Wesley Study Bible distinguishes itself as a worthwhile addition (edition?). Not that the Bible needs improvement, but anything that illuminates and explains […]
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