I love it when theologically astute people comment on youth ministry issues. D.W. Congdon, Princeton M.Div. Student, has commented on the recent NY Times article about youth ministries using Halo 3 to attract a crowd. Good thoughts. A quote: If a church wants to be relevant to teenage boys, there are plenty of other ways, […]
Prayer and Capitalism
There’s a great post over at Inhabitatio Dei. An excerpt: [I]n the actual practice of making decisions and establishing agendas and practices in Christian ministries today, it is the flow of money or its absence that is accorded primal theological significance. How decisions get made regarding the shape and focus of the ministerial life is […]
Kevin Vanhoozer on Youth Ministry
Okay, well, he doesn’t exactly comment on youth ministry. But in an interview at The Exiled Preacher, Vanhoozer is asked about the pastor’s task as theologian. I’ve argued elsewhere that a youth minister has a similar theological responsibility, and think there are obvious parallels. Guy Davies: In the Drama of Doctrine, you suggested that the […]
The Covenant of YHWH and the Death of Jesus
Warning: possible heretical thoughts may follow. What follows isn’t exactly a deeply held dogmatic belief (in fact, I would say I don’t even believe it), but something that has been rolling around in my head for a few years. It is more the outworking of theological creativity and imagination. I have read fairly widely over […]
Emerging Church & Academy, Part 2
I wrote a post a few days ago saying that the emerging church is the result of the academy being brought into the church. This afternoon I read this quote on the Deep Church website: [T]he emerging church conversation has been invigorated by the energy, life and creativity that has come from some significant advances […]
Emerging Church: Bridging the Academy & Church?
This is just a quick observation that I seem to have noticed. It seems to me that popular evangelical leaders read books by people like MacArthur, Warren, Hybels, Swindol, Lucado, and Stanley: practitioners and pastors. However, it seems like emerging church leaders are reading books by Hauerwas, Wright, Brueggemann, Volf, McKnight, Moltmann, Franke, and Grenz: […]
Birthday Books
My birthday was last week. And, as birthdays go, I got some pretty decent birthday money. So, what did I do with it? Buy an iPod? Surround sound? A bluetooth earpiece? Heck no. I bought some books. And they are: The Mediation of Christ by Thomas Forsyth Torrance Principles of Lutheran Theology by Carl E. […]
We’re all Heretics
Wow, it’s been while. I was pretty much non-existent in July, being gone for two weeks on mission trips, taking some vacation, and spending time with my wife as she was out of school. Hopefully, I’ll get back into a semi-regular blogging pattern. Here’s my first attempt to get back at it. I remember growing […]
I confess…
So, over at the Faith and Theology blog a meme has been started; it is spreading quickly. Sounded fun. I confess: I watched Kent Hovind videos as a child and argued with my fourth grade science teacher about the age of the earth. I confess: In junior high and high school I thought denominations that […]
A Theological Test
I try to take theology seriously. It is helpful that I enjoy reading theology and listening to boring lectures by theologians and philosophers. However, I am deeply committed to the idea that theology is not for the ivory towers, but must be imbedded into the worshiping community. I mean, as much as I have respect […]