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Asking More of the Right Questions This Christmas
Read more: Asking More of the Right Questions This ChristmasWe’re Getting Christmas Wrong Over the past few Christmases, I’m noticing an uptick in blog posts and essays about how Christians are “getting Christmas wrong,” that our old quaint stories about Jesus being born in an animal stable are historically implausible, and that our hymns and advent traditions are being “spoiled” by eminent historians who…
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Celebrating Prof. N. T. Wright: One God, One People, One Future
Read more: Celebrating Prof. N. T. Wright: One God, One People, One FutureOne week ago I had the privilege of presenting Prof. N. T. Wright with a Festschrift (German for ‘celebration writing’), which is a sub-genre of scholarly books comprised of essays from former students, colleagues, and long-time friends. This kind of book celebrates the contributions of a particular scholar, typically on the occasion of a major birthday or…
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3 Simple Ways to Respond to this past Easter Weekend
Read more: 3 Simple Ways to Respond to this past Easter WeekendFor most followers of Jesus, our observance of Easter this past weekend marked a significant point in our yearly calendar that has been specifically set aside to celebrate the pinnacle of our faith, Jesus’ resurrection and life giving ministry. It’s meant to be a significant pause built into our busy schedules cementing a spiritual rhythm…
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My Dear Wormwood
Read more: My Dear WormwoodDear Wormwood, Seeing as your Uncle Screwtape is busy after being promoted to a particular world leader, he has handed you over to me. Now, my dear Wormwood, I see that the possibility of a human war, and all that leads up to it, has enticed you. It is of vital importance to your mission…
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Are We Listening to the Deaf Community in the Church?
Read more: Are We Listening to the Deaf Community in the Church?What constitutes an unreached people group? Generally, it applies to a group, usually related to a geographical area, in which less than 2% of the population identify as Christian. Furthermore, it is where there is no local culture evangelizing to the rest of the culture. Being deaf is not geographically contained, but it is its…
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On Contentment and Simplicity: An Advent Reflection
Read more: On Contentment and Simplicity: An Advent ReflectionEnough for him whom cherubim, Worship night and day, A breastful of milk, And a mangerful of hay; Enough for him whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel, Which adore (A Christmas Carol, Christina Rossetti) It’s hard to imagine the King of the universe, the Word of God through which everything has been…
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John of Damascus on Divine Images
Read more: John of Damascus on Divine ImagesSt. John of Damascus penned the Treatises on the Divine Images in response to iconoclasm which swept across the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Leo III. Throughout his three treatise, St. John of Damascus works to distinguish veneration from worship, and he justifies icons imaging Jesus and the saints. As a modern reader the distinction between…
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The True Story Behind The Handmaid’s Tale
Read more: The True Story Behind The Handmaid’s TalePhoto Credit: https://www.emmys.com/events/fyc/2017/the-handmaids-tale The Handmaid’s Tale, a popular Hulu drama series, just won eight Emmy Awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. The series, which is based on the book by Margaret Atwood, follows the story of Offred, a handmaid, during a time where America falls under an extreme fundamentalist “Christian” totalitarian…
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Leaving your Church in Tears
Read more: Leaving your Church in TearsI left my Church this week, and it was the most painful and beautiful thing I have ever done. For many people, Church can be a great source of pain, for others, it is a building or a place to gather. For some, Church can be a crutch, a community that supports them. As for…
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Baptism and a Circumcision without Hands
Read more: Baptism and a Circumcision without HandsA few weeks ago, I was asked to write a supplemental reading for our Life Group curriculum here at Fellowship Dallas. It was an awesome week at our church where we baptized over 25 people who had made a profession of faith and had decided to follow Jesus. Being the nerd that I am, I…