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, this might pop into their heads: “It seems like I remember my sin enough without smudging it on my face and going without my favorite drink for a month and a half.” I invited a friend to the Ash Wednesday service with a local Catholic congregation and this was his response: “Nah man. … [Read more...] about Shoot Christians Say: Lent and Ash Wednesday
Psalms
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 understood in the context of God's Story, such as what Sire shares in his newly e-published memoir Rim of the Sandhills (2012). In Chapter 3, he writes: My imagination did not need to be the source of other experiences of the holy. Once Marjorie and I came … [Read more...] about Jim Sire: Excerpt from “Rim of the Sandhills”
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 faculty on that campus. He is one of InterVarsity's most gifted Bible expositors and has also authored the books The Beauty of God's Holiness (InterVarsity Press) and Our Joyful Confidence: The Lordship of Jesus in Colossians (DILL Press). Tom holds an M.A. … [Read more...] about Psalm 90: The Wisdom and Way of Dwelling in the Lord (Thomas Trevethan)
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 come back to this important topic. Luhrmann discusses suffering in a chapter titled, "Darkness," along with the related issue of feeling distant from God. Early in the chapter, Luhrmann describes the Vineyard's approach in this way: Churches like the Vineyard handle the problem of … [Read more...] about Evangelicals and Suffering (When God Talks Back)
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 it is) for writing such a book, my excuse would be something like this. It often happens that two schoolboys can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can. When you took the problem to a master, as we all remember, he was very likely to explain what you understood already, … [Read more...] about C.S. Lewis’ humility in reflecting upon the Psalms