Some Thoughts on the Reading of Books
A few suggestions on what and how to read
Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for each project and read them over a determined period of time. This helps to... Continue Reading
Accidental Saints
Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People is the follow-up to Nadia Bolz-Weber's memoir, Pastrix
Let me say it candidly: Bolz-Weber has no business being a pastor and, therefore, no business writing as a pastor. She proves this on nearly every page of her book. Time and again she shows that she is woefully lacking in godly character. Her stories, her word choice, her interactions with her parishioners, her temper,... Continue Reading
Reaching a Boiling Point
What do the Planned Parenthood videos, two mothers on the campaign trail, and an obscure Old Testament law have in common?
In light of these videos, clearly both of these mothers are heating up the rhetoric to express their views. They reflect that the very nature of the subject is bringing to the surface the rawest of human emotion. Culturally things appear to be reaching a boiling point. We need to pray that the Lord has... Continue Reading
Adding To and Taking Away From the Gospel
There are two ways the truth of the gospel can be distorted - adding to it or taking from it.
For example, the Roman Catholic Church, the New Perspective on Paul, and legalism in its many forms add to the gospel. Even if there is an acknowledgement of what Christ has done, it is not all sufficient to make us right with God. However, liberal theology takes way from the gospel by teaching that we... Continue Reading
Why Evangelicals and Catholics Cannot be “Together”
Here are some of the reasons protestants and Roman Catholics will never agree (based on the RCC’s teaching)
The Bible Says that Christ Died Once and For all (1 Peter 3:18). He does not need to continue dying like the animals in the Old Testament sacrificial system. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The only reason he would need to continue dying would be if we... Continue Reading
I Don’t Want Your Good Vibes. I Want Prayer.
There's no substitute for our communion with the Father.
The Bible does not offer us any spiritual placebo effect, by which a sugar tablet of good wishes just might have the same effect as the penicillin of prayer. Prayer is the thing that weak, sick, anxious, sinful, needy Christians must have. Do not substitute. On Thursday, Pope Francis stood on the balcony of... Continue Reading
Is Capitalism UnChristian?
Christian principles do undergird capitalism. And the biggest of these is capital itself.
“The engine of capitalism is the God-given drive, ability, and responsibility to create, to innovate, to conquer and subdue. When humans make something out of nothing, or when we make the same something more efficiently, we show forth the image of God in us.” I’m not interesting in commenting on the specifics of either... Continue Reading
Postmodernism: A Cautionary Tale
“Cognitive contamination” happens every day in our ordinary work-a-day lives
“The challenge of a growing suspicion toward metanarratives is that Christianity is unavoidably a metanarrative. Christianity is the one story that rules them all. It is the one narrative that explains mankind’s origins, miseries, death and ultimate destiny. Our faith testifies to an ontological and metaphysical reality that applies to all men – past, present... Continue Reading
The Most Invisible Christians in Washington
Even as Middle Eastern churches face extinction, their lobby struggles to be heard
“The world has watched and witnessed the targeted persecution of Christians, suffering violence, displacement, rape, enslavement, and even death,” said Kirsten Evans, executive director of IDC. “Do these crimes constitute genocide under international law, and if so, what the so what are the options the international community has in order to respond?” The woman’s... Continue Reading
The Desire To Be Desired
The desire to be desired fits nicely into the story of evolution
“The only way out of this bondage is fairly well known: desire being desired less, and desire God more. To desire less is done through confession and repentance. What could you confess? Narcissism, self-worship, fear of aloneness, a conviction that God is not so good—when possible, reach for something that is ruthlessly accurate.” At... Continue Reading