This is the second article of a nine-part series on empowering a faith community to impact the world. The “E” word has been stolen! This stolen term and its meaning generated aspirations for some churches and guilt for others in…
When God changes His mind*
It wouldn’t be the first time, you know. If Fox News wants to see what “fair and balanced” looks like they should check out National Public Radio. You know the folks at the helm are left of center, but they…
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday … What’s Saturday?
Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” is derived from the first word of John 13:34 in Latin: ” Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos ut et vos diligatis invicem.” “A new command I give you: Love one another. As…
Good power/bad power (The nonviolent Jesus versus the apocalyptic Christ)
It is vital to our spiritual health to understand the difference between dominant power and spiritual power. Dominant power is the power to externally influence behavior by the use of force, coercion, threat or promise, reward or punishment. Spiritual power,…
Do you believe in the Rapture?
In an earlier blog article this month, I mentioned having a theological discussion my sister. One of the direct questions she asked me was, “Do you believe in the Rapture?” If she had asked me that question 60 years ago…
Seeking Jesus is like hunting for Easter eggs
Whenever I hear someone suggest the gospels are pretty much straight forward, I want to ask her or him whether we are reading the same books. There are so many times when reading the gospels, I stop, wondering if I…
What Easter means (and why what literally happened on Easter morning is irrelevant)
What matters most is not what historically happened on Easter morning to the body of Jesus but what the Easter story means. The Easter stories in the Gospels are religious/spiritual/theological stories, not historical reports. That is not to say there…
Must we choose between fundamentalism and ‘belief-less Christianity’?
John Shuck is a Presbyterian pastor in good standing who doesn’t believe a single thing you learned in Sunday school. In a recent Patheos post, Reverend Shuck issued a list of six affirmations designed to boil the blood of every right-thinking American:…
Sharper than the sword: The power of God’s word
In October, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond had the privilege of hosting all seven volumes of the Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible on our campus. For those not familiar with the project, The Saint John’s Bible is the…