May 8, 1970 was the day when I knew everything. On that day, I received a master of divinity degree after three years of study at an accredited theological seminary. I had received good grades (well, I did get a…
A failure of imagination on reading Scripture, part 1
God sure seems to get a bad rap sometimes, even from his followers. Well, that may go just a bit far. God’s word gets a bad rap much more frequently than he does. How should we handle this? How about…
Board drops plans for Bible course in Oklahoma public schools
By Bob Allen An Oklahoma school district has dropped plans for a pilot project by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green aimed at adding Bible study to the curriculum of public high schools nationwide, a church-state watchdog group reported Nov. 25….
Balancing a congregation’s spiritual diet
By Doyle Sager Is your congregation receiving all its spiritual vitamins and minerals? We all know how crucial a balanced physical diet is; our spirits also need a healthy mixture of “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). But before…
Saving the Bible by damning God
“Young man,” a grizzled Presbyterian cleric asked a harried candidate for ordination, “would you be willing to be damned for the greater glory of God?” Uncertain how to respond, and weary from two hours of dense theological questions he didn’t…
Jesus and brain science agree: money kills empathy
Although you would never know it from listening to American preaching, Jesus linked poverty with the kingdom of God and affluence with sin. The text of the first sermon Jesus preached was taken from Isaiah 61: The spirit of the…
Let justice roll
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24 NIV During our recent vacation Bible school I observed our students standing attentively as they belted out , “I pledge allegiance to the flag…”. We…
How to throw away a Bible
After some saints of my church decided to clear out our Sunday School storage area (who wants to do that job?), an unusual question was posed: “What do we do with damaged Bibles?” I was not quite sure how to…
SCOTUS got this one wrong
With all due respect to my blogging colleague, Jonathan Waits and his blog post, the US Supreme Court got the decision wrong about the town of Greece, NY and their ceremonial prayers. How prayers are handled in government sponsored settings…