Mmmmm…food. We probably ate a little too much of it this week. Feasting has a way of urging us to throw gustatory caution to the wind, doesn’t it? Whatever we ate this week, we all have this in common: we need to eat food in order to survive. The type and quantity of food we eat, however, will greatly affect the nature and duration of this survival. In my last post I promised that this […]
I am lucky to live in the Bay Area. And never have I felt luckier than the day Batkid came to town (if you know nothing of Batkid, please read this) When the story leaked that the Make-A-Wish Foundation planned to transform San Francisco into Gotham City so that Miles, a 5 year old who beat leukemia, could fulfill his dream to be Batman, I knew I wanted to be there. And so did about […]
It all started with Chaim Potok—the 20th century Jewish novelist who wrote mainly about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews living in New York City, and is famous for such books as The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev. I discovered his novels in college, and, after reading a few of them, I came to a very startling realization: I wanted to be Jewish. This new dream elicited much confusion and consternation from those with whom […]
I often take many things for granted. In fact, this past week, as I’ve been sick on my couch with the not-so-pleasant cough/cold/congestion combination that’s been going around, I’ve complained about many things. Being physically sick heightens my negativity, as I become critical of everything around me and in me. According to the four humours temperament theory, my primary disposition would probably be melancholic. And the extended time in isolated introspection sometimes leads me to […]
I love discovering a new author that captures my intellect and imagination at the same time. Lars Walker’s book, “The Year of the Warrior,” did that for me. The book is brutal, real, historically rich, occassionally laugh-out-loud funny, and at times so painfully dark it reads like a head to head battle with the authentic problem of evil as posed by many moderns. How can a good God allow so much suffering and horror in […]
Those of you who clicked this post after seeing the picture might think it’s a blog about the NFL’s quarterback protection policies, and my take on a biblical perspective on the matter. Well, not really. If you are curious about my opinion, I’ll summarize it with this: I can see the concern to protect players who are playing a game (not intentionally risking their lives). But, I’m a Niner’s fan. Obviously, I’m upset that this […]
Earlier this week, my fellow blogger Calvin Sodestrom penned an excellent piece on so called “church marketing.” While I agreed with most everything that Calvin said, I also wanted to press his point further and help us to reconsider how we go about “doing church.” Calvin’s insights were useful but as long as we are conceiving of church in the traditional paradigm, our comments on “marketing” will always be a bridge too short. In trying […]
If you’re in Baltimore already or coming later this week for the annual meetings of SBL, AAR, IBR, ETS, and all of the other annual conferences, do come along to a craft beer reception that I am co-organizing with my colleague and office-mate, Christopher Brewer (isn’t that name just perfect?! The Christ-bearing Beer-maker). The reception will be held at Christ Lutheran Church near the inner-harbor (701 S Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21230), which is about […]
I ought to show my cards right from the get go. I’m really not that big of a fan of church marketing. While I realize that “marketing” (though I’d rather use a different term) is, in some sense, inevitable if we want to be congregations that engage our communities, I generally don’t like the conclusions set forth. They usually appear to be consumerism wrapped in a Christian cloak. So when I heard this following scenario, […]
It should go without saying at this point that the Western World is thoroughly post-Christian, and that goes for America as well as Europe, even if it is still to a lesser degree. One of the most obvious results in this shift is that the “Judeo-Christian” ethic is no longer a guiding light behind our collective moral decision making. It seems that for a few years there was a very clear, loud, and futile protest […]
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