On this Super Tuesday, remember to not let your civic duty eclipse your ultimate allegiance. Go vote at the poll, but save your worship for the pew. … More Decline of Church, Increase of Politics
LECTIONARY REFLECTION| LUKE 11:1-13 NEWS FLASH! JESUS WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN! Most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, recognize that Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith. Even the name of our religion – CHRISTianity – reflects the importance of Jesus Christ to us. Christians, as a group, tend to forget that Jesus was a … More Jesus-Shaped Prayer (Mike Fox)
A great rethink regarding the innkeeper in the Christmas pageant by Mike Glenn found at Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog. Most of us have heard of the innkeeper in the Christmas story. Poor Mary, pregnant and tired, has been dragged to Bethlehem by Joseph because that’s where his family is from and according to Caesar … More A Place to Start (Mike Glenn)
In honor of Black History month, I want to share a piece I wrote last fall in the midst of all the NFL players taking a knee, but did not publish out of fear of ruffing some feathers. But sometimes feathers need to be gently ruffled. Sometimes we need to have our eyes opened and … More Taking A Knee for Black History Month
A repost from 2009. -JB This is a thought experiment. Please be gracious and try to understand my line of thinking and let me know if there’s some validity to it. Please also hear what I am NOT saying. I have long been bothered by a common critique or complaint people have after listening to a … More The Dark Side of Personal Application
From Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed: Rodney Reeves’ new book, Spirituality according to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ, is one of the most courageous sketches of Paul’s view of the Christian life I’ve seen. I think he takes Paul at his word and then turns Paul’s words on us so we can see ourselves in the … More Ludicrous Faith & Apostle Paul
Scot McKnight is sharing his own journey of wrestling with Calvinism at Jesus Creed. Here’s a snippet, and I recommend you read the rest of the forthcoming series. I found two major weaknesses in Calvinism’s theology (and also a disorientation in its architecture): first, the emphasis of its architecture is not the emphasis of the … More Are Calvinists Right?
Scot McKnight hits the nail on the head today. One of the best reminders I’ve had in a long time. Everywhere I go and nearly everyone I read has a theme, whether central or peripheral, and I think the theme is getting too much attention and it’s getting too much play and it’s setting us … More The Cracked Fellowship of Cracked Pots
Do you pick up hitchhikers? Why or why not? I passed one by again today as I drove through town. I have to confess my conscience is disturbed every time this happens. Why do we pass on by? Is it inconvenience? Are we afraid they may be dangerous? Are we just shy and want to avoid … More The Good Samaritan and the Hitchhiker
One of the most simple but important driving lessons we learned in kindergarten: stay between the lines! In driving you must keep yourself from veering to the left and the right. We must keep ourselves between the yellow center line and the white shoulder line. What do these two colored lines represent on the road … More STUDENT DRIVER 4: Life Between the Lines
What do you think of Dr. Scot McKnight’s perspective on the place of politics in the pulpit from Jesus Creed? It is commonly asserted that we should keep politics out of the pulpit, but what most people mean by that is that we shouldn’t endorse a specific candidate — and who’s kidding whom on that … More Politics and the Pulpit (Jesus Creed)
Scot McKnight is starting a new, and significant, discussion at Jesus Creed today called “The End of Evangelicalism.” I think this is an important discussion to have, and he begins by asking two key questions. Enjoy. Many today are predicting the (even imminent) collapse of evangelicalism. Others, like Brad Wright, show that evangelicalism is flourshing, … More Who decides who is evangelical?
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
I saw this today at Jesus Creed: “At the end of the day, elections don’t shape or influence our cultural imaginations. On the contrary, our imaginations influence our elections, as the naive nation builders who thought that bringing elections to Iraq would transform the country discovered, much to their dismay. As the midterm elections approach, … More QUOTABLES: Russ Reno on Elections & Imagination
This is a big deal for those like me who find themselves, as the Internet Monk used to say, “wandering about in the Evangelical wilderness in search of a more Jesus-shaped Christianity.” I think Scot McKnight is spot on in his analysis of the recent Albert Mohler cover story in Christianity Today and I stand … More McKnight on Al Mohler & the ‘Evangelical Shift’
Scot McKnight has a great post and challenge to the American church — especially conservative Evangelicals — to avoid the politicization of the church. He makes the claim that the most influential voice upon Evangelicals today is not Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham or James Dobson, as in past decades, but FoxNews. Specifically he names Sean … More The Voice Influencing American Evangelicals (by Scot McKnight)
We human beings tend by some law of nature toward extremes — especially in religion and politics. It’s hard to remain open to both sides and hold to a centrist position in the political shouting match played out in American media outlets. I have made balance and rigorous engagement with both — or, better, “all” … More Going to Extremes: Tea Party Falsehoods
A very “meaty” article today at Jesus Creed navigating the tough theological topics of God’s “election,” “salvation,” and “judgment” interacting with the views of Calvinism, Arminianism, Barth’s third way and a newer concept called “missional election.” Go check it out HERE. Here’s a snippet: We, the Church, have been elected for mission. But this emphatically does not mean … More Judgment, Salvation & “Missional Election”
I found another great political insight at Jesus Creed Blog today. Sorry for so much political banter at DI lately. I hope my heart for a more balanced, nuanced and open-minded debate, and less polarization and stone-throwing is coming through in these posts. -Jeremy David Brooks gets it when it comes to how people are … More Sketching Obama
Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed is exploring Christian Smith’s new book: Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. What do emerging adults think of religion? This next chp in Smith and Snell discovered in their fantastic new book: Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults will be of use to all … More Today’s Emerging Adults 2
Kingdom Harbor 