This is my “coming out” post. I’m coming out in support of chickens as emotional support animals. I know this revelation will come as a shock to many, and will be met with sneering and judgment from others. But I have Jesus on my side. Let me explain. … More Burning Cities & Emotional Support Chickens
We’re spending the season of Lent in a sermon series called the “CrossRoad.” (Listen here.) In his book The Day the Revolution Began, N. T. Wright reminds us that the cross was more than a momentary transaction to deal with individual sins (though it is also that!). The story is much bigger and deeper. The cross launched a … More The Revolutionary CrossRoad
Repost from 2013. -JB Have you listened carefully to and reflected on the meaning of the words of the Christmas carols we’ve been singing this past week? Do they accurately capture the true meaning of Advent? Well, some are better than others. A recent article by Peter Leithart at Credenda Agenda probes this topic interacting … More How N.T. Wright Stole Christmas (Peter Leithart)
These two quotes aptly describe the nature and goal of my doctoral studies in New Testament Context. “The ideal interpreter would be one who has entered into that strange first-century world, has felt its whole strangeness, has sojourned in it until he has lived himself into it, thinking and feeling as one of those to … More Historical Context Matters
In this series of posts we’re exploring the different ways the Bible confronts the reader and the appropriate response to each. #4 – THE BIBLE AS GOD’S GRAND STORY The Bible is God’s Grand Story of his dealings within history — the grand metanarrative of creation, fall, redemption and restoration. We are all characters within … More THE BIBLE: God’s Grand Story
I owe more to N.T. Wright for my understanding of faith and the Bible than anyone else. Period. If you’ve never read a book by Wright, this might be a nice way to ease into his style and brilliance this season of Advent. From the publisher: Advent for Everyone: A Journey with the Apostles provides … More The Wright Christmas Gifts
“Oh! How dear and precious to your heart you will find God to be when you thus behold him in Christ. Because in Christ you have the true manifestation of him.” P. P. Waldenstrom (1838-1917), Swedish Covenant Pastor & Theologian I’ve been exploring the meaning of Jesus’ death and atonement theology recently. We just watched … More Cross, Atonement & Paul Peter Waldenstrom
In this essay from 2004, I seek to expand our understanding of salvation emphasizing the significant roles of both narrative and community in one’s conversion. Many years ago, seemingly in a different life, I found myself on a bus full of zealous Christians headed to a San Diego music festival to pass out gospel tracts on the street corner. Only after … More Loosening the Helmet: Narrative & Communal Dimensions of Salvation
It is so easy to place God in a box. But again and again we find that God cannot be confined to our little categories. One large way we have managed to push God’s penetrating presence out of our world is by the way we think of and imagine Heaven. I think Heaven can be … More Rethinking Heaven 2: What? When? Where?
The following post is worth reading. I found it during my Easter sermon study and preparation as I prepare to trace the New Creation theme through the Gospel of John. I have read the book he’s referring to by N.T. Wright. I, too, am a huge fan and student of Wright. Get the book! Enjoy! … More N.T. Wright: The Gospel of John & Second Genesis
The disciples wanted a kingdom without a cross. Many would-be “orthodox” or “conservative” Christians in our world have wanted a cross without a kingdom, an abstract “atonement” that would have nothing to do with this world except to provide the means of escaping it. Many too have wanted a “divine” Jesus as a kind of … More QUOTABLES: N.T. Wright on the Jesus we want
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
This weekend the 19th Annual Wheaton Theology Conference featured a fruitful engagement with the scholarship of N.T. Wright. Thanks to the internet, you didn’t have to drive to Chicago to hear the great bishop and the other keynote speakers engaging and critiquing his works. Now, you can watch the videos or download the mp3 audio … More N.T. Wright Conference at Wheaton College
RJS at Jesus Creed brought these two videos to my attention. Wright discusses our need to approach the Scriptures on their own terms and how our particular worldview and philosophical presuppositions color our understanding of the text. The first video highlights the Enlightenment’s influence on our views of God, and the second video discusses how … More N.T. Wright on How Worldview Shapes our Reading of Scripture
How does the Bible exercise authority and guide our lives as people living in a post-modern age? N.T. Wright, bishop in the Church of England, addresses this issue in his must-read essay/lecture How Can The Bible Be Authoritative? Please check out the entire essay HERE. Below is an excerpt giving a taste of his narrative … More Narrative Theology: N.T. Wright’s Five-Act Hermeneutic
These are not the BEST books I’ve read. There are definitely books more profound, better written, more well-known and vastly more influential. But there are books that we read at certain times in our own spiritual and intellectual journeys that just come at the perfect time to open new windows of thought, challenge previous convictions … More My Top 3: Impacting Books
What does a narrative approach to Scripture say about the authority of Scripture? 5. Narrative Understanding of Scriptural Authority. Most foundationally, we must treat Scripture as more than a static repository of abstract truths that reveal true propositions about God, history and the human condition (though these too are important, have their special place and can be … More A Powerful Collision: God, Bible, Authority & Narrative 4
Two significant voices offer well-needed clarity on the ongoing battle within the Episcopalian and Anglican churches over the question of homosexual clergy. Check it out: Ben Witherington III: “The Wright Stuff Hits the Fan” Tom Wright article in Times Online
Kingdom Harbor 