Archive for November, 2008

You Make this so Worthwhile!

Am still thinking this morning about some of the comments written to this blog yesterday. I agree so much with what SFDBWV wrote when he said, “The Bible is many things, one thing it is, is a story. Not just a story, but a story about God and man’s experiences. Apart and together…Life without others […]

Black Friday and Terror in Mumbai

Something about the news on this morning after a Thanksgiving holiday feels like being on the wrong side of the road in fast traffic. So much is coming at us too fast even to process. Black Friday with doorbuster deals. Developing terror in Mumbai. Warnings for NY subways, and a president-elect facing such economic and […]

Second Thoughts About Giving Thanks

There’s a down side to public expressions of thanksgiving. It’s one thing to privately thank our God for what he gives us individually. It’s also only right that we would publicly, within the appropriate circle, thank him for what we share together. As we saw in our last conversation, acting as if we are entitled […]

Entitlement and the Holiday

Started thinking that entitlement and thanksgiving are mutually exclusive, and that what’s at risk, if I don’t see the difference, is not only a heartless holiday, but also a shrinking spirituality. Then the most basic Google search gives me definitions that complicate my thoughts. For openers, I find, “The state of meeting the applicable requirements […]

Auto CEOs and Labor

As CEOs from Detroit’s Big Three appealed to Congress for government relief, a friend sent me a link to a short 3 and 1/2 minute piece of video journalism by the Detroit News. What I found was a compelling story about one of the most sophisticated and efficiently run car manufacturing plants in the world. […]

Yogurt, Yeast, and the Bible

Made a batch of yogurt this morning. At least I think I did. Packed away a gallon of brew in a couple of thermal containers and will wait now for about 30 hours to find out if the little animals multiplied. The long wait is because I like yogurt extra sour. I’ve had it that […]

A Team of Rivals

By showing their regard for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, President-elect Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton have reminded us that, in the face of shared need, former enemies can come together around a cause far greater than themselves. Nowhere, however, do I find a nobler expression of […]

Who Will the President Pardon?

In the final days of the George W. Bush administration 2,300 convicted felons have applied for presidential clemency (a reduction of sentence) or pardon (the forgiveness of a conviction and suspension of legal penalty). According to an article on ABC News, a long list of hopefuls are waiting to see if the president will grant their […]

What Does it Mean to Live by Faith?

Everyone has faith in something. But the author of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews has a specific kind of faith in view when he writes, “Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of those who […]

Doing Ministry in a Business-like Way?

Well, after having second thoughts about this post early this morning, I’ve tried to take another approach to it. I doubt that I’ve got it right yet, but would be interested to hear some discussion. Some of us believe ministry and business are mutually exclusive. I’ve seen the sincerity in the eyes of those who […]

What Matters Now

Am beginning the day with this thought: Those of us who have found life in Christ, and who can speak and write gratefully about our BC/AD story have a big challenge today. On one hand we have discovered that– by nothing more than entrusting ourselves to what Jesus did for us– he has settled forever […]

BC and AD

The man from Gadara was in bad shape. Naked, out of his mind, and living in a graveyard, he was so out of control that he broke the chains of those who tried to restrain him. Yet, what really tormented him was the thought of being approached by Jesus (Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28). In Gadara […]

Sodom and the Rest of the Story

There is more to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah than is commonly known. The prophet Ezekiel and Jesus combine to add some important details to our understanding of these ancient Dead Sea communities. The Rest of the Story–In the 16th chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet doesn’t emphasize the violence and sexual behaviors for which […]

Didn't Paul Say, All Things Are Lawful?

When Paul acknowledges in his 1st letter to the Corinthians that “All things are lawful” (1Cor 6:12), he uses a word that occurs about 40 times in the New Testament regarding whether a behavior is legally permissible. Since Paul adds in another letter that we are under grace, not law (Rom 6:14-15), how do we […]

What Do Evangelicals Really Want?

What if followers of Jesus won every election for leadership and public policy? What if, in the process, we collectively earned a reputation for being a decent and honest people? What if we were universally regarded, not as self-righteous, money-loving, hypocrites, but as faithful, sincere advocates of personal and social morality? What if all of […]

Messianics, Law, and Grace

There are a number of reasons to have issues with the Apostle Paul. Even Peter acknowledged that Paul had written things hard to understand (2Peter 3:14-18).  But in addition to the fact that, in this text, Peter acknowledged Paul’s God-given wisdom and grouped his letters with “other Scripture,” here are some things I think we […]

Jesus but not Paul?

I had a discussion with a friend over lunch the other day that got pretty intense. We’ve had these kinds of conversations before and have always ended up parting with a smile and looking forward to the next time. This day was no different, except that, looking back, we came closer to being farther away […]

Vote today for. . .

A friend sent me a note reminding me to “Vote for… [name omitted].” The truth is that my friend and I are voting for different candidates in this election. So was he pulling my chain in telling me who to vote for? Yes. But, actually he didn’t name a candidate. He said, “Vote for [someone […]

This Election and Emerging Churches

Seems to me that this season of cutthroat politics gives us a way of looking at how some of us are handling our opinions about “the emerging church” issue. All too often we have seen opposing parties put the worst possible face on the other side. Over and over we have seen both sides look […]

A Conversation About Faith and Economic Uncertainty continued…

I’ve been deeply moved, as have many others, by reading your personal responses to the post on “Personal Economics and Uncertainties,” Here’s one I thought I’d bring forward, as a post. innkeeper says: With the colorful foliage falling down in rural Maine, the deepset poverty and desperation is visible just driving down most roads. Mile […]

Underdogs

One of the timeless appeals of the Bible is that it is good news for underdogs. What could be more inspiring than true stories about Davids in a world of Goliaths? That’s not ignoring the fact that the same book can also bring us to the end of ourselves. Some chapters sound like bad news […]

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