Women and Ministry

I’ve not blogged for a long time.  Too long.  I enjoy writing and thinking and expressing what is going on in my mind.  Lately I’ve just not had much to say.
But today I became aware of a piece that President Jimmy Carter wrote and it struck a nerve,  I loved what he had to write [...]

Death

I saw this quote on Twitter today: “Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives importance and value to time. Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it.”
It immediately made me think about the tendency in our society to view Death as a “natural part of life” or even [...]

Firstfruit, Peaches, Jesus, and Resurrection

I desperately love fresh peaches right off the tree.  Sweet and juicy and wonderful they are.
We have three peach trees in the back yard at our house and each one ripens at slightly different times.  That way, you see, we get fresh peaches for two months rather than two weeks.
The first in line is the [...]

Ehrman, Colbert Report, and Witherington

Ben Witherington is a wonderful, very orthodox, Christian Scholar.  On his blog recently he posted a critique of Bart Ehrman’s newest book and also this great video of Ehrman on the Colbert Report.  Bart Ehrman often tries to discredit the Christianity, as you will see in the video, and Colbert is wonderful with him.  I [...]

A Sign of bad Theology

 

 
I almost never like what I read on church signs. This one, in particular, really hit a nerve. Just in case the picture isn’t working the words read, “Don’t make me come down there!  -God”
 
What is wrong with this? Only about a dozen things.  Here are four that come to my mind [...]

Colbert and Wright about “Heaven”

I’m really high on NT Wright’s book, Surprised by Hope.  Here is a little video where Stephen Colbert “interviews” Wright about Surprised by  Hope.

Surprised by Hope

I’m not in the mood to write much, but you should know know that I have recently read, without question, one of the best books about theological topics I have ever come across.  It is called Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church written by N.T. Wright (no surprise [...]

wall-e and light

 
I am preaching and teaching about John 8:12 this Sunday; the section where Jesus says, “I am the light….” So I’ve been thinking a lot about light and what that metaphor means. It can stand for a lot of things and in John 7 and 8 probably helps to verify Jesus’ identity as [...]

Happy Christmas!

The coming of Jesus means a new beginning – a Genesis, as the gospel of Matthew puts it (see Matthew 1:1 – but most English versions miss that point) – a new beginning for all people, in all times, in all the world. This Genesis – the Jesus event – changes everything. May [...]

Happy Hanukkah, 2008

On the evening of December 21, Hanukkah began.  I am reposting one of my all-time favoriate  blog posts (that I have written) – it is about Hanukkah.  The picture is of our menorah in front of our Christmas tree.  That was on purpose.  Both objects are about light and from my perspective (certainly not from [...]