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Category Archives: Teaching/Preaching

Are we living Christianity, or just studying it?

Flashing lights and buzzers go off inside my head whenever I see the name, Søren Kierkegaard. It’s part of my fundamentalist training that instinctively and quickly manifests itself like Jason Bourne’s martial arts skills in The Bourne Identity. In the early eighties when I began my seminary training there were two opposing factions: the inerrantists [...]

Posted 24 December 2007 § Christian life § Daily Scribe § Fundamentalism ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Waking up to reality?

Jim had been awake for thirty minutes, but his eyes remained closed as he dreaded the grueling schedule of the day ahead. Another form lay motionless beside him in the early light. "She doesn't have to get up for another three hours," he thought. "God, why can't I be so lucky? What did I do [...]

Posted 02 December 2007 § Daily Scribe § Fiction § Ministry ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Famous Last Words

A father left his son, Charlie, in charge of the family business—a huge strawberry farm—because he was getting older and wanted to travel abroad while his health still permitted. The farm was handed down to him by his father forty years earlier and since then he had invested all of his time, energy and resources [...]

Posted 30 October 2007 § Christian life § Daily Scribe § God's will § Great Commission § Jesus Christ § The Church § Theological education ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

What’s the big fuss over church elders?

Here's a hearty recommendation to check out Alan Knox's series on "elders" in the church. In his introductory article, he points out an interesting observation that the subject of "church leadership" is virtually absent in the early creeds and confessions; and that it was not until the Reformation that such statements began to be included [...]

Posted 19 September 2007 § Elders § Ministry § The Church ‡ Comments (6) °

Paranoia in the pulpit, stupidity in the pew

Paranoia! You bet! There’s only one place more paranoid than the schizophrenic ward at your local mental hospital: your local neighborhood minister’s fraternal! Honestly, I once felt so spiritually superior to my congregation simply because I had been placed in a position of authority. My pride really worked me over and I was convinced that sheep were too dumb to feed themselves or to know sheep food from sheep dung.

Posted 30 July 2007 § House Church § Ministry § Personal ‡ Comments (12) °

Mistaking the Menu for the Meal

Do you ever read a book that is way outside your “comfort zone” (whether it’s a book on The Zen Approach to Expository Preaching or something written by an author who takes a completely different view on some aspect of the Christian life)? I recently chose such a book by Jack Deere, formerly an Old [...]

Posted 02 July 2007 § Jesus Christ § Ministry § The Church ‡ Comments (2) °