The Good Pastor
April 9, 2021
My fancy bound dissertation came in the mail this week! In the coming days, I want to share several excerpts from the introduction and concluding sections of my thesis. … More The Good Pastor
Tag: Eugene Peterson
Pastors as Spiritual Guides
October 31, 2019
This is the final post in a 4 part series. Read part 1, part 2, and part 3. I’m writing this from a monastery where I am diving deeper into the writings of the ancient Desert Fathers and later mystics and spiritual masters such as Saint John of the Cross, Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen. … More Pastors as Spiritual Guides
QUOTABLES: View From The Pulpit
September 24, 2018
Eugene Peterson captures the thought of preachers as they look out on the congregation each Sunday: “Every Sunday I look across this congregation and wonder, prayerfully, what is going on. I know most of you pretty well. But there is a lot I don’t know. I am here every week with the conviction that this … More QUOTABLES: View From The Pulpit
Jonah & Pastoral Vocation (Eugene Peterson)
September 11, 2018
At least 2 or 3 times in the past several years of pastoring, the following 4 lectures by Eugene Peterson have helped save me from drowning in the sea of vocational ministry. I, like countless other pastors, consider Eugene Peterson to be the Dean of Pastors and a voice of sanity in a culture of … More Jonah & Pastoral Vocation (Eugene Peterson)
QUOTABLES: Subversive Pastor
September 10, 2018
“Most of the individuals in this amalgam [i.e., congregation] suppose that the goals they have for themselves and the goals God has for them are the same. It is the oldest religious mistake: refusing to countenance any real difference between God and us, imagining God to be a vague extrapolation of our own desires, and … More QUOTABLES: Subversive Pastor
Blue Parakeets & the Bible’s Big Story
November 9, 2017
I’m rereading the great book The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible by my teacher, Scot McKnight. I can’t believe its already been nearly 10 years since I first devoured the book (half of it in the bookstore!), and now am studying with Scot! I’m preparing to preach on the importance of grasping the … More Blue Parakeets & the Bible’s Big Story
Bono & the Psalms
August 16, 2017
I’m going to see U2’s 30th Anniversary Joshua Tree Tour concert at U.S. Bank Stadium in a few weeks. My only other U2 concert was their Popmart Tour 20 years ago at the Metro Dome (a horrible echo-chamber for concerts). Needless to say, it’s about time. I’m pumped. I’m a long time fan of U2 and an … More Bono & the Psalms
Gridlock on the Sinai Expressway
April 27, 2015
Here’s a repost from 2010. -JB If you get cranky when rush-hour turns your drive home into a 40-minute commute, imagine being stuck on the Sinai Expressway for 40-years — and on a bus filled with hundreds of other cranky passengers! Perhaps, “road rage” is not as new a phenomenon as we might think. When … More Gridlock on the Sinai Expressway
QUOTABLES: Lashed to the Mast (Eugene Peterson)
August 18, 2014
Next summer I will be officially ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church (10 years after I graduated from seminary — its about time!). I’m reminded of a poignant lengthy quotation from Eugene Peterson’s The Contemplative Pastor. It’s a good reminder that we are weak and can, like Odysseus, be lured away by the sirens of people pleasing. We need God’s … More QUOTABLES: Lashed to the Mast (Eugene Peterson)
Some Key Influences
June 8, 2011
We’re all like lumps of clay that over time have been shaped and molded by dozens of influential hands — and experiences and words and ideas and moments and conversations and books and dreams and successes and failures — but mostly people. I am a firm believer in learning from people of different persuasions, and … More Some Key Influences
VIDEO: A Conversation with Eugene Peterson
May 26, 2011
My 3 Days with Eugene Peterson
May 26, 2011
I just spent 3 days up north on a personal retreat – alone. Well, not alone. I carefully chose my weekend companion and mentor. His name is Eugene Peterson. More than just the translator of the well-known The Message Bible, he’s truly “a pastor’s pastor” par excellent, and has finally set down his own spiritual … More My 3 Days with Eugene Peterson
Some Thoughts on Preaching
April 11, 2011
Some mysterious Spirit-initiated transformation happened inside me. The transformation was sparked rather suddenly around age 19 when I first began to hear the Living God speaking to me through the sermons of Pastor David Johnson of Church of the Open Door. Notice: I had been hearing sermons my whole life in church. But suddenly I … More Some Thoughts on Preaching
Widen Your Perspective
March 19, 2011
The Christian blogosphere is often a nasty place, where stones get tossed back and forth around the clock with very little listening to the other side. I think I’d give up all together on the hope for balanced and grace-filled conversation if it weren’t for Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed. He’s a kindred spirit in … More Widen Your Perspective
Rob Bell Endorsements
March 3, 2011
I’ve mentioned some of the strong criticism for Rob Bell’s yet-to-be-released book on Heaven and Hell called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Now a couple positive endorsements from Eugene Peterson and Greg Boyd. “In the current religious climate in America, it isn’t easy to … More Rob Bell Endorsements
Eugene Peterson: Leading others the Jesus Way
December 9, 2010
Reading the seasoned pastoral wisdom of Eugene Peterson is for weary pastors like drinking ice cold water after running a marathon in the desert heat. I found this excerpt at the iMonk. Drink deeply, my friends! . . . Do we do it in Jesus’ way or do we do it the Wal-Mart way? Spirituality … More Eugene Peterson: Leading others the Jesus Way
QUOTABLES: Eugene Peterson
March 11, 2010
“We have short attention spans. Having been introduced to God, we soon lose interest in God and become preoccupied with ourselves. Self expands and soul atrophies. Psychology trumps theology. … [And this] usually adds up to a workable life … But — it is not the practice of resurrection, it is not growing up in … More QUOTABLES: Eugene Peterson
Jeremy L. Berg 