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“There Is A River”: Worship Reflection
Read more: “There Is A River”: Worship ReflectionI have just recently returned from Scotland and there have been a lot of interesting adjustments in the process, like a reverse culture-shock. But one of the things that has particularly stood out is the fact that I haven’t known any of the worship songs at the chapel and church services that I’ve attended since…
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“You Should Come to My Church.”
Read more: “You Should Come to My Church.”As we go about our week we often run into people in our community who are not believers and are not connected to any church. During the course of small talk, the topic of church is broached and we then ask our new acquaintance if they go to church anywhere. They say, “No, my wife…
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Review of From Jesus to the New Testament by Jens Schröter
Read more: Review of From Jesus to the New Testament by Jens SchröterJens Schröter. From Jesus to the New Testament: Early Christian Theology and the Origin of the New Testament Canon. Translated by Wayne Coppins. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2013. xiv + 417 pp. Hardcover. $59.95. ISBN: 9781602588226. From Jesus to the New Testament is a translation of Jens Schröter’s 2007 work Von Jesus zum Neuen Testament….
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Relearning How to Follow Jesus
Read more: Relearning How to Follow JesusWhen I first came to the mission field I spoke with a teammate who told me about a man named Mamadou who I would meet shortly. He told me, “Mamadou is a Muslim background believer from Africa. And just so you know, he fasts more than he eats.” When my teammate relayed this information to…
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Review of Jesus Research, ed. James H. Charlesworth
Read more: Review of Jesus Research, ed. James H. CharlesworthEdited by James H. Charlesworth; with Brian Rhea and Petr Pokorný. Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perception. Eerdmans, 2014. 1053 pgs. $35.00 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-8028-6728-5. The recently released compendium, Jesus Research (2014), is a collection of papers originally presented at the Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research (2007). The volume combines the insights of at…
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Writing Scripture
Read more: Writing ScriptureThis last weekend, 11 freshman stood in front of our congregation, affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and expressed their intention to journey with our church through life, at least until they move away for college. As part of this moment, we anointed each student with oil and said, “Because you…
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Blood on my Hands
Read more: Blood on my HandsWhen I heard that we were receiving communion as a church staff, I was thankful. I needed it. I was wearied from two stressful weeks of constant ministry. Lots of counseling, lots of planning, lots of situations in which I had no idea what to do. I was tired. That morning, it had taken everything…
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Church Security Teams Revisited: Still Unbiblical
Read more: Church Security Teams Revisited: Still UnbiblicalNearly two years ago I wrote a blog post entitled, Church Security Teams? Verdict: Unbiblical, that seemed to be quite popular. Although, if I had my druthers it would have been popular because people agreed with it. But seeing as the article garnered a paltry two Facebook likes and the comments were rife with disagreement,…
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Why I am (Mostly) Pacifist
Read more: Why I am (Mostly) PacifistI finally feel free to admit it. I am (mostly) pacifist – I say mostly because my beliefs and thoughts have’t been field tested yet. Before you think I’m crazy and buy me a plane ticket to Pennsylvania to live with the Amish, let me share a few of the reasons why I am pacifist…
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Switchfoot and Karl Barth
Read more: Switchfoot and Karl BarthSwitchfoot is one of my favorite bands of all time. Each of their albums is like meeting a new friend – at first, I’m not sure if we’re going to connect like I hoped we would, but over time my appreciation deepens to the point that my life is different because of our friendship. I…