Category: Practical Theology
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Be Who You’re Becoming
Read more: Be Who You’re BecomingIt’s a new year, which means millions of people like you and me are taking time out for some self-reflection. A long look in the mirror—both literal and metaphorical—to find and fix our flaws. When I look in the mirror, past the fingerprints and flecks of toothpaste, what strikes me are the physical signs of…
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Of Nativity Scenes, Christmas, the State and the Small Town of Athens Texas
Read more: Of Nativity Scenes, Christmas, the State and the Small Town of Athens TexasIn keeping with the Christmas spirit that has been permeated the blog, I thought I would attempt to meld my two-kingdom series with something relevant for the holiday season. In the secularized west, the constant debate about Christ’s relationship to Christmas provides a fantastic peek into the practicality of the two kingdom’s discussion. Today’s article…
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Apologetics: To What End?
Read more: Apologetics: To What End?Last week I talked about advertising and evangelism. As a related issue, I also want to discuss the way in which Christians do Apologetics. How far can Apologetics take us? Do we assume that someone can be argued into the Kingdom? Is the goal of Apologetics merely to convince? Is being convinced the same as…
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An Exercise in Thanksgiving
Read more: An Exercise in ThanksgivingDon’t worry, this exercise won’t involve an hour sweating on the stair-master… Today, many of us in North America[1] prepare for the annual traditions associated with plump and tender turkey, cranberries and gravies of countless varieties, and yammy, applely, and pumpkin side dishes with enough to cover a table with enough calories to power the…
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Contentment: Reflections on one of our Missing Virtues
Read more: Contentment: Reflections on one of our Missing Virtues“The Problem with Contentment is that we always want more of it.” There is much that could be said about our chronic compulsive need for contentment. Indeed, our narcissism and incessant hunger for more than we have is the result of an insatiable appetite of covetousness. As Francis de Sales warns, “as long as your…
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Multiplying or Dividing? (Multi-Site Part 3)
Read more: Multiplying or Dividing? (Multi-Site Part 3)After two thrilling weeks (I’m not overstating, am I?), we reach the conclusion of our look at multi-site churches. Having taken an overview of what multi-site churches are, and a look at some of the arguments in favor of adopting such a model, we take a turn to negative town and look at the arguments against…
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Prayer as Ethics
Read more: Prayer as Ethics“…you become better and better by looking for so great a good which is both sought in order to be found and found in order to be sought…” -St. Augustine “Ethics” means more than understanding how one should act in a certain situation in order to be free from blame. This type of ethics is…
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“Karl Barth is Evil”: The Strong and the Weak
Read more: “Karl Barth is Evil”: The Strong and the WeakIn the undergraduate class I am teaching this semester, one of the research assignments students can choose is an analysis of the Barth and Bultmann debate over the nature of Jesus’ resurrection. One student who chose this assignment later changed their mind; this person sent me an email asking if it would be possible change…
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More Multi-Site in Every Ecclesiological Serving (Part 2)
Read more: More Multi-Site in Every Ecclesiological Serving (Part 2)It’s estimated that there are over 2,000 churches in America that employ the multi-site model in some form. What are their reasons for doing so and is there biblical support for this decision? Browsing through the web for proponents of the multi-site church model reveals a number of arguments in favor of multi-site that are also true of…
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Joining in the Dance of the Merrymakers: A Meditation on Jeremiah 31
Read more: Joining in the Dance of the Merrymakers: A Meditation on Jeremiah 31Over the past month or so, I have been making my way through the book of Jeremiah. Sometimes I read through a number of chapters and at other times, something sticks with me from the text and I can’t get past a few verses. This happened about a week and a half ago as I…