Sometime after I graduated High School, but before I went to college I was fervently trying to decide what I was going to do with my life. As the fog began to clear and I could see that the LORD was calling me to some type of ministry, I began to devour books and podcasts. Somewhere through piles of books and the mass amounts of podcasts, I came across an interview of Matt Chandler by...
Returning from the mailbox, you flip through the stack that is your recent prize. You begin the important task of separating the pertinent letters from the ones that will be quickly discarded without even being read. Postcards and invitations in one stack, ads in another; bills, the things you wish you could throw away, on the right; another pile that is placed closest to the trash belongs to the mis-delivered. A Mr. So-and-So has not...
I 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 have affirmed the unity of the body of church, with words I have confessed that there is one holy and...
Two weeks ago the newest issue of Themelios (39.3 [2014]: 517–519) contained a review of my Esther book by Dr. Ched Spellman. This is the fourth review that I’ve come across (see the other reviews by Brian C. LePort, Joel Watts, and Brant Clements) and the first one in a journal. I’m grateful for the generally positive review, including the conclusion, which states: Because the option of ignoring or downplaying the oddities and difficulties of...
This last weekend, 11 freshman stood in front of our congregation, affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and expressed their intention to journey with our church through life, at least until they move away for college. As part of this moment, we anointed each student with oil and said, “Because you belong to Christ, you belong to us, and we belong to you.” It was incredibly beautiful. Before the service, I...
I am pleased to say that my book, Esther and Her Elusive God: How A Secular Story Functions As Scripture, is finally available for purchase. The book was endorsed by N. T. Wright (St Andrews) and Chris Miller (Cedarville), and Dr. Ronald W. Pierce (Biola) wrote the Foreword. The book can be purchased from the publisher’s website, and will soon appear on Amazon. A Kindle Edition is also in the works. I wrote Esther and Her Elusive...
What does it mean that the “word of God is living?” That’s a big question, but I will only focus on one part. I think that it is of fundamental importance to recognize that, in every day speech, there are two very different sorts of existence that we describe as “alive.” Before we apply the label of “living” to a text we have to decide what sort of living thing it is. These two sorts...
As a good Protestant I was always taught to be grateful for, but suspicious of the first, fiercely devoted to the second, and un-threatened by the third. When Tradition is found wanting it can be remolded; it is malleable where the other two are not. Scripture is cast in stone. It does not change and therefore should not be changed. History is… history. It doesn’t exactly change either, but where its claims and interpretations run...
This last week, I learned about Earthing. If this sounds like a hippie-influenced, granola-society type of activity… you’re probably right. Though it’s proponents claim that there is scientific research to validate the claims of this practice, the basic gist is that we as humans accumulate loads of electron imbalances from the stress, emotions, work, and events of life throughout the day. We amass “free radicals,” which are atoms, molecules, or ions with unpaired electrons in...
“You can’t really believe in the Bible, right? It’s been translated so many times! Not to mention the thousands of errors and the fact that the Council of Nicaea totally suppressed stuff they didn’t like. There’s just no way you can know what it originally said.” If you’re strangely inclined to trust the Bible, you may have heard some arguments like that before. But how to respond? Thanks to the dedicated research of a host...
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