A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
I was under the illusion that I had completed my occasional series on Biblical Inspiration until several friends pushed back on my “ROCK” summary of my faith distinctives. Reading back over my posts I see that I never really wrapped up my position, so this is a shot at doing so. I shall not attempt to fully justify my position in this post; interested readers … Continue reading Rightly Dividing the Word — A Summary
I just finished reading the book Grand Theft Jesus — The Hijacking of Religion in America by Robert S. McElvaine. I really expected to love the book: after all, he starts out sympathizing with “the Christian Messiah (as he) looks at the crew of megachurch preachers, televangelists, hypocrites, imposters, snake-oil salesmen, and just plain snakes who have hijacked the name of Christianity, perpetrated identity theft … Continue reading Book Review – Grand Theft Jesus (Part 1)
Last week in Sunday School we had a big discussion (started by yours truly, I’m afraid) as to whether or not God ever changes his mind. It came out of the account in 1 Sam. 15:11, where God states that “I regret that I have made Saul king…” Our teacher stated “well, we know God can’t really regret anything he did, because God doesn’t change … Continue reading Does God Change? Part 1 of 2
Hey everybody, I know I’ve been silent for an awful long time…I’ve been in the process (not yet completed) of a job change and a move from San Jose to Atlanta. I will break my silence soon, in fact I have a study in the works, but gotta get a little time to breathe first. But I had to share the following anonymous quote from … Continue reading Profound confusion
I’ve been chewing over a variety of theological ideas with you all over the approximately year and a half that I’ve been blogging. These have been supplemented by long conversations with my good friend Ben (who’s not blogging theology right now), as well as a variety of books I’ve mentioned. Ben and I have come to the realization that four key concepts do a pretty … Continue reading ROCK your faith! A few core tenets. . .
Yesterday I discussed at length my criticism of Brian McLaren’s perspective on homosexuality, and to some extent sexuality in general, in his book A New Kind of Christianity. Today I want to laud a point that McLaren has gotten absolutely right, in chapter 19 of the same book, entitled “The Pluralism Question: How Should Followers of Jesus Relate to People of Other Religions?” Here I’ll … Continue reading McLaren – "A New Kind of Christianity" – Thoughts on John 14:6
I’m still in process of reading Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith, and for the most part I really appreciate it. McLaren coherently describes the conventionally-accepted framework of the Biblical narrative, which he calls the “Greco-Roman model,” and contrasts it with a narrative that takes into account the story of God’s calling and working through the Jews … Continue reading Book in progress – "A New Kind of Christianity" by McLaren
My brother Dave’s blog is primarily about economics, mine primarily about theology. But I have got to highlight to you guys, this post in which Dave quite properly calls out some of the ways in which church institutions seem to have forgotten which deity they ought to serve (Matt. 6:19-24). Churches sometimes talk a good game about justice, and even do great works for justice. … Continue reading God or Mammon?
Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! A joyous Easter to each of you. This is the day when we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the powers and their grip on the world, for in raising Jesus from the dead, the Father achieved victory over the ultimate weapon of evil – death and our fear of death. I was thinking this morning in church. . .we often look … Continue reading He is Risen, He has Conquered, He Rules!
One aspect of the Kingdom of God that we often misunderstand, is that this Kingdom is at war. The Genesis creation story teaches us that God originally created the cosmos as his own domain, and specifically on Earth, he placed his image-bearers as viceroys–rulers in his stead–and stewards of that domain. However, a deceitful enemy tempted humans to disobey their creator, and through a process … Continue reading The Kingdom of Jesus Christ – Rebels Wanted!