“I find an increasing number of young Christians are willing to say “enough is enough” when it comes to militarism, to military budgets, and to embracing a peace orientation toward how Christians are to live in a world of international conflicts. Ronald Sider (Christ and Violence) and John Howard Yoder (The Politics of Jesus ) have … More QUOTABLES: Scot McKnight on Non-Violence
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
Jesus is the fullest revelation of God’s character. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father,” Jesus said. God looks like Jesus. If you want to know the character of God, look at Jesus. I reread Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, recently. I simply read paragraph after paragraph, … More An Angry God?
Bart Ehrman and friends are making the rounds with their books attempting to undermine the reliability of the New Testament witnesses to the life of Jesus. Have you bought their rhetoric? Have you joined the chorus of skeptics in an age of unbelief? Here’s a challenging rebuttal by Dr. Ben Witherington III to consider. (This … More Bart Ehrman & Ben Witherington: Who’s the Fundamentalist?
As I read through the Gospels today, I noticed that Jesus seems to be fond of commanding people to either “Come, follow me!” or “Go!”. The point seems quite clear: Life as a disciple of Jesus is a life “on the move.” He calls us to drop our nets, leave our old life behind and … More With Jesus: Are we Coming or Going?
“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). There’s a powerful lesson and warning to the church in this passage I’ve never noticed until today. It seems as though Jesus is confronting a popular … More When Conventional Wisdom Reaches it’s Expiration Date
Jesus was not seeker sensitive. He was not after the crowds. Obviously, his signs and wonders, and authoritative teaching naturally drew crowds. But in the scene below we find Jesus trying to escape the clamoring crowds and find a moment of solitude. Even more shocking, when his disciples tell him of a crowd of people … More The Day Jesus Skipped Church (Mark 1:35-39)
I went there to look for a new book to read, but found myself reading the bookstore and its shoppers instead. Let me share what I observed. Steady traffic by the Diet and Cookbook section. Many people concerned with their physical appetite and eating habits browsed through Magic with Meats, Vegetarian and natural food options, … More Lazy Day Observations at Barnes & Noble
Which Jesus do you follow? This is the most significant question we can ask. The New Testament declares that Jesus is the full and accurate picture of the invisible God. When you stare into the face of Jesus, you’re looking into the face of Almighty God. So, what kind of a God does Jesus reveal? … More Greg Boyd Puts the “Smack Down” on Mark Driscoll’s Jesus
I have the opportunity to have coffee/lunch chats often with young disciples of Jesus. It’s one of my highlights of ministry, and I only dream I can impart some Jesus-like wisdom to these friends to spur them on in their walk of faith. Have you ever wondered what a coffee chat with Jesus would be … More Coffee with Jesus – 1st Century Style
“Why do so many seekers report that they are attracted to Jesus but not to the church? Perhaps the problem is that the church has done a splendid job of concealing the powerful life-giving Jesus. We domesticate him; we make him our servant; we assume that people have more knowledge about him than they do. … More QUOTABLES: David T. Olson on Domesticating Jesus
The political climate in America this week is boiling hot on the heals of Sunday night’s signing of the Obamacare proposal. There is an apocalyptic like mood on the conservative right, with talk show hosts prognosticating on the eventual collapse of America as we know it. Today, I walked to the gas station for a … More Which Government Do You Serve?
Let’s bring religion, sex, and politics to the dinner table! Jesus and the Bible have a lot to say about them. Tread carefully and expect disagreements. FAITH & POLITICS ARCHIVE SEX & GOD ARCHIVE
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the … More Adventures in Mark 6 (4:35-41)
So, I rarely have dreams — or ones that I remember anyway. But this morning I woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare where I was being chased by a vicious wolf who eventually caught me and began eating my arms off. Is there some deeper significance here? Why would I dream of … More Wolf Attack
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby … More Adventures in Mark 3 (1:35-39)
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4) I suspect Jesus wouldn’t last long in churches today before being fired for “irresponsible” leadership. What pastor in his right … More Leaving 99 to find 1
Today we begin an ongoing series of reflections on Mark’s gospel. Saddle up for a discipleship adventure! At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him … More Adventures in Mark 1 (1:9-13)
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, … More PARABLES: Sower, Seed and Soil 1
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30). … More “Yoked” for the New Year (Matt 11:28)
Here’s an oldie but goodie from the earliest DI archives written to the Revolutionary teenagers in Mound a few years back. Always a good reminder of how radically loving and inclusive our Lord and Savior is. Peace, JB “When you host a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your … More Who’s at Your Table? (Luke 14:12-14)
An inquisitive high school freshman from our youth group emailed me the following question today: Q:“What do you think the Bible means by the Kingdom of God?” This is such a central theme of the NT and yet it is so dynamic and varied in its uses and references that one does not blame someone … More Q & A – The Kingdom of God in a Nutshell
What did Jesus mean when he told his fellow Jews to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s”? Greg Boyd brings another strong critique of American tendencies toward a nationalized version of Christianity. In a recent sermon entitled “Handing Jesus Over to Caesar” Boyd argues that Jesus’ answer “undermined … More Boyd Waxes Bold on Jesus & Politics (Again)
BUSINESS AS USUAL IN THE ‘FIGHT’ FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE Before exploring the world-altering event of the cross and a cruciformed concept of justice, we need to spend some time in what will be much more familiar territory for most of us. I speak of the marketplace of ideas where ‘the fight for freedom,’ the … More Cruciform Justice 4: Business As Usual in the ‘Fight’ for Peace
Kingdom Harbor 