May 2012
1 post
7 tags
#freebreadandwine
Nadia Bolz-Weber, founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints created a wonderful hashtag on Twitter the other day.
Two ideas caught my attention.
The first is the idea that “we basically just let anyone show up”. Biblically we are commanded to show a certain amount discipline around the Eucharist.
“So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in...
April 2012
3 posts
2 tags
PRAYER FOR TODAY
May you bring God’s wise order into the world.
- N.T. Wright
5 tags
Our Saw-Toothed History
PSALM 125
Those who trust in God are like Zion Mountain: nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain you can always depend on. Mountains encircle Jerusalem, and God encircles his people— always has and always will. The fist of the wicked will never violate What is due the righteous, provoking wrongful violence. Be good to your good people, God, to those whose hearts are right! ...
Watch
Walter Breuggemann on Lent, Good Friday, Easter and the “shutdown” of the way it used to be.
March 2012
4 posts
7 tags
Thursday Thoughts
Today is Thursday. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about lately.
THE CONSISTENT REPETITION OF LITURGY
In an essay for online journal, Didache, Charles W. Christian of Kent Church of the Nazarene in Kent, Ohio quoted a brilliant passage from spiritual guru Leonard Sweet. Talking about how a consistent framework of faithful preaching can help shape a community, Christian wrote:
...
2 tags
The Gospel of John - Frederick Dale Bruner
It’s finally here!
Ever since I decided to embark upon a rather intense study of the Gospel of John nearly a year ago, I’ve been patiently awaiting the release of Frederick Dale Bruner’s commentary on the subject. I have grown very fond of his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, finding it to be a perfect balance of scholarly insight and poetic explanation.
I only received...
4 tags
Where I was when I moved again
As I have been reading through Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, it has become clear how foundational the “The Songs of Ascents” are, not just in this book (which is the main framework for the book), but in the daily Christian life.
For those who are unfamiliar with them, the Songs of Ascents are found the Book of Psalms, numbers 120-134. Most likely...
4 tags
Currently Reading
I first heard of Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience In The Same Direction while I was in college. Having been a fan of The Message, as well as Peterson’s overall insight into the world of Christian Theology and Spiritual Direction I was excited to begin this book. However, as it usually happens, I became overwhelmed with “other” needs in my life, things which I deemed...
January 2012
2 posts
4 tags
We Dare Not Articulate It
In a video for the visual media site Work of the People, author and Episcopal Priest Ian Morgan Cron shared a very simple yet profound insight about Eucharist, and the overall experience that we share in community and with God.
Initially talking about his son, who is overheard playing drums in the background, Cron said,
“Some of the most profound moments I’ve had with my son have...
Matthew 5:3-10
3 “Blessed are those who don’t believe in God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are the depressed, the anxious, the confused and the angry, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the socially awkward, the over-looked, the ignored, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who withstand the mockery Christians and still long for God, for they will...
December 2011
1 post
“Learning how to wait as a people of nonviolence in a world of war, you’ll...”
– Stanley Hauerwas
November 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Pro-"Life"
I’ve been thinking about the irony of the pro-life movement.
The more extreme example being those who are so pro-life that they will kill for it. See the irony?
While others many not kill for their cause, they may still act or behave in violent or “verbally-violent” ways.
In the more traditional sense, being “pro-life” means that you are against the idea of...
“God cares not only about redeeming souls but also about restoring his creation....”
– Charles Colson & Nancy Pearson , How Now Shall We Live?
October 2011
1 post
1 tag
February 2011
1 post
1 tag
June 2010
1 post
3 tags
“(On the doctrine of Inspiration and interpreting Paul’s writings) My whole...”
– Karl Barth - The Epistle to the Romans
March 2010
4 posts
4 tags
Being Holy and the Social Gospel
I have always been fascinated with the Social Gospel. It seems so simple, so obvious, and yet so often overlooked.
Call it what you want; social gospel, social justice, missional, Christian, socialist… either way, the ideas expressed in the Social Gospel are not only accommodating with our Christian doctrine, but encouraging and challenging to our call as followers of Christ. As a member...
theology battleship
I love theology.
To me, it’s like an art. Maybe even a dance.
There are certain moves you should make. Certain ways to speak. It’s a dialogue that exists between two or more people, but simultaneously exists in a timeless way. When I speak, I am entering into a conversation that is thousands of years old. When I take part in theology, all of history is my dialogue partner.
When...
1 tag
the Church in the old empire
I recently read this statement which described the early church of the Nazarene. It said: “Nazarenes protested fine, expensive church buildings, rather everything should say “welcome” to the poor” This is obviously interesting, since few churches of the Nazarene these days follow this idea. However, I am not “against” large churches. Nor am I against the idea...
2 tags
Would you join this church?
Would you join this church?
…a simple, primitive church, a church of the people and for the people. It has no new doctrines, only the old, old BIble truths. It seeks to discard all superfluous forms and ecclesiasticism and go back to the plain simple words of Christ. It is not a mission, but a church with a mission. It is a banding together of hearts that have found the peace of God, and...
February 2010
4 posts
1 tag
The applicable nature of Christian Perfection;...
While I understand that Christian Perfection has a significant, if not almost entire focus on Holiness towards God, I typically believe (because the Bible has so lead me) that in order to love God, I need to love People; they go hand in hand.
In my current ministry setting, I work as a college chaplain. Each week I have 10-15 conversation with students about life and spirituality, and typically...
3 tags
The Grand Nazarene Depositum of Christian...
In John Wesley’s “Plain Account of Christian Perfection” he wrote:
“There is such a thing as perfection; for it is again and again mentioned in scripture.
It is not so early as justification; for justified persons are to “go on unto perfection.”
It is not so late as death; for St. Paul speaks of living men that were perfect.
It is not absolute. Absolute perfection...
the American Church
Just read a lecture about the American characteristics of the local Church and how they appear in the Church of the Nazarene.
Here are a few of my thoughts:
Out of the lecture, two of the strongest points about American religion that I see present in the COTN is 1) the religious marketplace and 2) the democratic impulse
These have certainly been important, or at least present, in the...
“Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled.
My Lord, fill it.
I...”
– Martin Luther
January 2010
2 posts
“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
1 tag
“You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God...”
– Anne Lamott - Grace (Eventually)
November 2009
5 posts
3 tags
Welcome to Advent
This past Sunday marks the first week of Advent.
For those non-liturgical folks our there, Advent is the beginning of the Christian calendar, and it leads us to Christmas, which aside from shopping, gifts, movies and no work, is the time when we try to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Now Advent is much more than a celebration of December 25th. And It’s much more than a birthday...
3 tags
“Learning how to wait as a people of nonviolence in a world of war, you’ll know...”
– Stanley Hauerwas
“Too much debate about scriptural authority has had the form of people hitting...”
– N.T. Wright
2 tags
“It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, which is the true word of God. The Bible,...”
– C.S. Lewis
1 tag
The Times They Are A-Changing
I recently read a blog post from Brian McClaren , where he responds to the wide amounts of criticism that he has recently received. Mclaren, who is one of the leading thinkers in the emerging church and in postmodern culture, has done a fair share of speaking to people who don’t necessarily like his way of thinking. But time and time again, Mclaren has pushed his point that it’s not...