In my last post I highlighted C.S. Lewis’s take on what it means to approach the Bible humbly: namely, we should first ask honestly and with an open mind, What sort of book has God actually given us and how has He given it?Read more…
C.S. Lewis on Scripture. God’s Word in Human Words. Part 1 of 2
I am always thankful that the first theology book I ever read was C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. I stumbled upon it in the B. Dalton Bookseller at the local mall early in the summer before my senior year in high school,Read more…
Christian Devotional Classics: The Rule of St. Benedict
If time permits, I offer to you The Holy Rule of Saint Benedict for your consideration on this day of rest and through the coming week. Note: As the Christian Devotional Classics series builds chronologically, be sure you have atRead more…
What exhausts you?
“People in a hurry never have time for recovery. Their minds have little time to meditate and pray so that problems can be put in perspective. In short, people in our age are showing signs of physiological disintegration because weRead more…
What Is Ministry?
About 18 months ago, I stepped down from my position as Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network and handed the reins over to my faithful coworker Tom Grosh. I kept my toe in the world of campus ministry byRead more…
Public and Personal Encounters with Evil
By any account, media coverage this week has been saturated in violence. We have been inundated by graphic and raw descriptions of the Boston bombings, a live-birth abortionist, and even the Senate’s rejection of expanded firearm background checking. These are publicRead more…
Shoot Christians Say: Lent and Ash Wednesday
Lent is Church language. For countless jaded Christians the word implies little more than hypocrisy and self-righteousness. For others it’s that time of year to give up coffee or baked goods for a few weeks. When some think of it, thisRead more…
Jim Sire: Excerpt from “Rim of the Sandhills”
Yesterday, the Emerging Scholars Network kicked off a Worldview Question-and-Answer series withJames W. Sire.* As I have considered the development of Sire’s thought on worldview, I have come to even more deeply embrace the importance of how one’s life story is understoodRead more…
Psalm 90: The Wisdom and Way of Dwelling in the Lord (Thomas Trevethan)
I am reprinting this Bible study, originally written by Thomas Trevethan for InterVarsity Faculty Ministry — the original can be found here. Tom is a veteran InterVarsity staff worker who has served at the University of Michigan for many years, now working with facultyRead more…
Evangelicals and Suffering (When God Talks Back)
Last week, in my discussion of what evangelicals can learn about themselves from T.M. Luhrmann’s When God Talks Back, I mentioned our approach to suffering. Originally, I wasn’t going to write another post on the book, but I wanted to comeRead more…
C.S. Lewis’ humility in reflecting upon the Psalms
This is not a work of scholarship. I am no Hebraist, no higher critic, no ancient historian, no archaeologist. I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself. If an excuse is needed (and perhaps itRead more…
Join the heavens in proclaiming the glory of God
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. . . . The sun bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like aRead more…
Finding Calcutta: How do I get there? How should I prepare for the journey?
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage” (Psalm 84). . . . How do you recognize, articulate, and carry out the relationship of Christian calling for vocation with your life’s journey in Christ? Who holds you accountable in the daily grind across the various “spheres” through which you travel?Read more…
Joyful Lips in Higher Education
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry & weary land where there is no water. — Psalm 63:1 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Graduate and FacultyRead more…
Some recent gems from the other ESN website
If you’re not receiving the quarterly Emerging Scholars Review, you should be — join ESN as a member or update your membership to receive quarterly emails with the newest articles from ESN’s main website. Here’s what you might have missed:Read more…
Your Mind Matters 2: Why Use Our Minds?
In the section entitled thinking God’s thoughts, John Stott argues Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:18-21 refer to God’s self-revelation through the created order. Although it is a proclamation without speech, a voice without words, yet as a result of itRead more…
Good Friday
Today is Good Friday for most Christians (for Orthodox believers, Good Friday is a week from today). Eugene Peterson, in Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness recommends that all Christians read the Psalms daily on a monthlyRead more…
Do you have a confession to make?
Since the beginning of Lent, our family’s reflected upon the tension between sin and a pure heart as found in Psalm 51. One morning, we walked through the Gospel message and explored the question of whether sin makes sense toRead more…