A couple of weeks ago I visited a bookstore with some friends and noticed this figure of Jesus. It struck me that this is the Jesus our culture is interested in: a discounted, bendable Jesus. Jesus is welcome as long as he doesn’t cost much and as long as we can shape him as we …
“Our Savior Christ … was a carpenter, and got his living with great labour. Therefore let no man disdain … to follow him in a common calling and occupation. For as he blessed our nature with taking upon him the shape of a man, so in his doing he blessed all occupations and arts.” …
T. H. L. Parker’s challenge two decades ago of the Church of England, of which he was a part, is relevant to us today. “What wonder that a church which picks and chooses what it wants out of the Bible should become confused in its theology, flabby in its morals, and with little to state …
Continue reading ‘Danger of Picking & Choosing from the Bible’ »
Looking back through the excellent volume, What Luther Says (an excellent resource!), I came across this passage where Luther extols the value of singing the Psalms. I have discussed previously Luther’s love of the Psalms. Here succinctly he mentions the comfort they give, how they “preach the Messiah,” and the added impact of singing them …
I have made the point often here that the New Testament portrays pastors knowing their people well, and not just speaking to crowds of unknown people. The command to watch over their souls, knowing God will hold us accountable for this (Heb 13:17), requires this as does a ministry in which we “warn everyone” and …
Continue reading ‘Beza, A Pastor Must Know Each of His People by Name’ »
“Both of us are deeply troubled by the way in which modern scholarship continues to produce studies of the text that do not (and often cannot) connect with Scripture’s target audience, the people of God who gather each week by the power of the Spirit to be sanctified as disciples of Jesus. We refuse to …
Continue reading ‘Doing Scholarship Like the Church Matters’ »
Over the holidays I tried to listen to the audio of The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World, by Edward Dolnick. I appreciate the general topic, but after a few chapters I stopped. The condescending caricature of Christianity presented in the book was too much. To tell …
Several years ago I began keeping an annotated list of every book I read each year. It has been a very useful discipline and resource for later. As part of my own review of this past year I will post here what have been the best books I have read this past year. Included in …
Mike Garrett alerted me to a recent interview of Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter, at Garden & Gun. Towards the end of the interview she is asked about her favorite memories of her dad, and I was taken with the place of the Psalms. Here is that part of the interview: Your dad has been …