A Good Roar
In Leading from the Lion’s Den: Leadership Principles from Every Book of the Bible, Tom R. Harper says that some example components of a good leader as exemplified in the Bible are: COMPASSION – literally, a feeling with and for others CONTENTMENT - To be free from care because of satisfaction with what is already one’s own [...]
Deleting "Calvinism"?
Over the last several years the Reformed/Calvinist perspective has seen a dramatic resurgence thanks in part to pastors like John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Matt Chandler. These men know what they believe and why they believe it, and no matter where you fall on the election / freewill spectrum you hopefully are trying to achieve a similar level of [...]
Radical
Derek Webb writes: “I’m getting tired of being interviewed for or asked to endorse books that are about ‘radical christianity.’ especially when those books typically use that term to describe what should be garden variety, everyday christianity. It shouldn’t be the work of the ‘radical’ to reach out to those who are different than them [...]
Why I'm Catholic
I have a confession to make: I’m not Catholic. In fact, for much of my life “Catholic” was a four-letter word. My childhood church thought heaven was going to be a small place because: (1) most other Baptists were going to hell. (2) All non-Baptist denominations were going to hell. (3) The Catholic church was hell. I was [...]
Gandalf vs. Scripture
“Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable,” says Leviticus 18:22. For years, perhaps centuries, the world has wrestled with this and other passages concerning the topic of homosexuality. It’s a battle that has been waged on many fronts, and it seems there is little new to add [...]
UK Bishops Bash U.S.
I’m not Episcopal. I’m not British. I’m not gay. I’m technically not a Bishop. So why does the unfolding saga in the Anglican church fascinate me? In the slow-moving train crash of international Anglicanism, a decision taken in California has finally brought a large coach off the rails altogether. The House of Bishops of the [...]
500 Candles for Calvin
Ah, Calvinism. The subject of so many late-night dormroom conversations (at least, if you went to a Christian university or Bible college. And yes, we really did talk about these things. What else were we going to discuss? Relationships??) Anyway… I am a postmodern. I can deny it, try to hide it, run from it, deplore it. [...]
The "New" Calvinism
If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard “The Old Rugged Cross,” a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” And today, more and more top songs feature a [...]
Magazine Pulled from Shelves
RALEIGH, N.C. — What was supposed to be an honor — a cover story about a group of successful women pastors — has instead been tarnished for a Durham non-denominational church leader. Sheryl Brady, the 48-year-old pastor of The River Church, was featured among four other women pastors on the cover of Gospel Today, a [...]
Gay.
Christian. Gay. Two words that most of us in the church community would never use in the same sentence… unless also using the word ‘hell’ and/or ‘abomination’. Recently, California’s Supreme Court declared gay couples in the nation’s biggest state can marry. most of the church-goers I know would see this as a terrible thing. But [...]
David, the statue
Today i was struck with the story of David. Not the Biblical one… well not at first. The marble one. If you read about Michelangelo’s famous statue, David, you will find a sordid history. When the Cathedral of Florence commissioned it, they could never have imagined what would unfold from there. They hired the best [...]
Exile
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” So, we’ve all heard this verse, ad nauseum, and I’ve even studied it multiple times in school… but I am not sure it [...]
Created for Pleasure
One of my favorite passages in the Talmud is found in the tractate Kedushin in the Talmud Yerusalmi. It states when we stand before the Holy One at the final judgement, we will have to give account for every permissible pleasure in this world that we could have enjoyed and did not. As long as [...]
October 31st
“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of Hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.” — Martin Luther October 31st is obviously a day that is stuck in the American psyche as being a day of holiday and celebration. [...]