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Why the Old Testament?
In preparation for my Old Testament survey course I teach in the spring, I want to express my thanks for those who have given me wonderful ideas for OT passages to memorize. Now, the question I propose is this: WHY do we pay attention to the Old Testament? As a believer, not one who is taking a required course, WHY…
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A Question for Old Testament Studies
Next semester I am teaching a freshman college course on Old Testament. It’s a survey class. One of the exercises I am toying with is having passages of Scripture to memorize. If you had about six passages to assign, what Old Testament passages would you assign… and why? Let me hear from you! Especially T.C., Brian, Jeff, Bitsy, and Gary.
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Resolved
New Year’s resolutions are tough. Yet, there are some spiritual exercises I want to increase in my life. 1. Increase in prayer. We will open the new year with a week of prayer. We will have a silent retreat in February. The Lord is challenging me in fasting and prayer. I need to call out on God in a more…
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Essential
I am wrapping up a semester of teaching basic theology to students. I am taking them through an exercise where they are developing their own statement of faith. Interestingly enough, I have come across posts about essential theology. T.C. links to Pen and Parchment for the discussion. There are some good thoughts. One thing to be reminded of is this:…
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The Paranoia
Ben Witherington posts a great piece on the fear caused by emails. We get so many warnings, we’re just flat-out afraid to do anything! So, make sure you read this and send it on to 10 people you love, and then email me back… Oh… never mind. Got carried away!
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Is Jesus THE Way?
A recent post over at ScriptureZealot stirred my thinking. Some of the more incendiary comments have since been edited out, but it stirs me nonetheless. It raised the specter of hard-line Calvinism simply saying, “If you don’t believe in TULIP (and some very specific tenets of Calvinism) then you are preaching another gospel.” That’s the subtle undertone of the piece…
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Learning Christ
Eph. 4:20 — “That is not the way you learned Christ.” There IS a way to learn Christ. We are taught in him. As I am reflecting over this passage for a class I am teaching, I am reminded of many people who taught me in Christ. Some were personal. Others through books and other media. My parents taught me…
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Love for the Church
I am working through Acts 20 for the class I am teaching. As usual, I am so humbled by Paul’s incredible heart for the church. He pours out his heart to the Ephesian elders and lets them know the high price of pastoring. My question is this: In today’s church environment are we training church leaders or pastors? Have we…
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The Twitter Gospel
Philip Yancey will usually make me mad and glad all in one column. He does it again in his last CT column. (He says he’s taking a break.) He adds some thoughts and cautions we REALLY need to hear! (I don’t think we will, but I can only echo his strong voice.) Although I admire the innovation, I would caution…
