Latest Posts
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Grace & Works
Read more: Grace & WorksNow that school is out for summer (cue Alice Cooper) I’m back home working for my church as a youth ministry intern. As we began to plan for the summer and what we should teach on I recommended books like Colossians and Philippians. You know, something short and sweet that would be really encouraging. So…
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Jesus the Seeker
Read more: Jesus the SeekerI was six years old. It was “fellowship time” at church after the morning service before Sunday school. The kids congregated out on the lawn with a somewhat flat and worn rubber ball for the weekly game of kickball. I was never particularly fond of games, but my older cousin was especially good at kickball…
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“A Reconciled Community…of those Justly Condemned”
Read more: “A Reconciled Community…of those Justly Condemned”In his commentary on Amos, Hans Walter Wolff writes, …Amos with his message of judgement thrusts Israel back among the nations, there appears here a negative print of Pentecost. The wall between God’s people and the nations of the world is already being broken down. The Church will suffer damage if it does not allow…
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The Gospel Comes To Us
Read more: The Gospel Comes To UsI have only been to an Anglican church service a handful of times, but some of the most profound experiences I’ve had in church took place during an Anglican service. The most recent was my experience this past January when I took communion from the common cup for the very first time. With words I…
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Jesus the Bartender
Read more: Jesus the BartenderFullerton, CA The downtown area of this small Los Angeles suburb is home to over a dozen bars ranging from Mexican cantinas, Irish pubs and average American bars. Every Friday and Saturday evening, the streets swell with college students, business executives, the poor, the rich, and everyone in between. These bars are filled with these…
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Review of Called to the Life of the Mind by Richard J. Mouw
Read more: Review of Called to the Life of the Mind by Richard J. MouwIn an engaging collection of brief reflections and vignettes, Dr. Richard Mouw, Professor of Faith and Public Life and former president at Fuller Theological Seminary, provides a rationale for and description of rigorous Christian intellectual inquiry today.
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Who’s in charge here?
Read more: Who’s in charge here?Growing up my hometown was, and still is, very conservative. Most everyone identifies as a Christian and a Republican, and to me those two terms were nearly synonymous. I was taught that America was the greatest nation on the planet and that we were in fact a Christian nation, to suggest anything different would be…
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Natalie Portman, Idolatry, and Ancient Judaism
Read more: Natalie Portman, Idolatry, and Ancient JudaismHave you seen this recent report about Natalie Portman and her Oscar trophy? Apparently, she thinks of it as something of an idol. Here are her thoughts: “I don’t know where it is,” Portman told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about where she keeps the Best Actress Oscar she won in 2010 for her role…
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How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Group Discussion
Read more: How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Group DiscussionI’ve had the privilege of being part of several group discussions lately in several different situations. Some of these discussions were fruitful and led in a positive direction. Others were excellently hampered by certain individual’s conscious efforts to be a proverbial “spanner in the works” (as they say on this side of the pond). If…
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Transience.
Read more: Transience.Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above among the mountains Which are mountains of rock without water If there were water we should stop and drink Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand…