January 2009 Archives

Have you seen this test that seeks to determine what your religion really is.

Some of you may be surprised by that opening image, but I'm following the apostle Paul today: "When in Canada, do as the Canadians." Kris and I are up in Edmonton at Break Forth, where that one famous hockey player once played -- can't recall his name, but I'm here to do some speaking and teaching. But, while here, "Go Canada!" (When we get home, I'll get back to my usual self.)

When we got to Edmonton, I wondered if we had been diverted to Seattle - it was raining and gray. Haha! Friday morning about 8am the sun began to break -- not used to those late sunrises.

Avery Dulles and John Neuhaus are now gone; what will happen with the Catholic and Evangelical dialogue? And Dave Gibbons makes a case for "Third Culture" as a third way approach to culture and change.

Cheryl Schatz with a funny statement by a 4 yr old boy on the difference between a male and a ... you read it.

Sharifa Stevens on the inauguration. Thoughtful.

CT has a good roundup on the inaugural prayers. Many of our students were there (and not in class!). While we're talking about NPU, good for our nursing program and students.

Love this guy.

In the world of blogs: Did you see that a newspaper idea is to convert blogs into micro-local newspapers? (The Printed Blog) Eugene Cho is in South Africa with some great pictures ... and we're going back in May (down to Stellenbosch this time). JR Briggs asks a pointed, and important, question about missional in a consumer society. Fr Rob and the evidence for angels. Tread lightly -- this one is serious about the Ukraine. When it comes to numbers, count on Michael Kruse (this one on joblessness). One of the most important themes that needs to be heard today: God is not safe. Is Christianity cool? Bob's fighting. Michael Krahn does some satire -- of which I'm rarely a fan -- about Tony Jones that is funny.

And Bob Robinson says he voted for Obama but ...

I've been thinking of what it means to be called "reverend" and how pastors are to think of themselves, so these words -- from a pastor -- are a very good reminder for me.

Christian and the state: John Stackhouse is always thoughtful. And Ed Gilbreath is thoughtful too -- the Joshua Generation (I like that).

Ilinoisans no longer play "Where's Waldo?" They play "Where's Blago?"

Speaking of church and state: one of my former students, Tim King, has a blog that gets into the political issues; he's in DC and works with Jim Wallis.



With the change of parties in power comes the rise of a whole new cadre of newspaper critics -- and we will only be good citizens if we listen to both sides.

1. Not sure if you saw this: an atheist praises the good impact of evangelism and missionaries in Africa.
2. Stanley Fish examines President Obama's speech: "he carries us from meditative bead to meditative bead, and invites us to contemplate."
3. Red wine and our health.
4. David Waters on the Catholic ad about abortion. I'm with Cardinal Francis George on this one.
5. No promises that I'll live long, but if I do, my chances of dementia are less.
6. Religious responses to the inauguration -- quite an array. These are the optimistic words of Jim Wallis: "It was acknowledged that it was time now for the new President to go to work. And so would the religious community. Our job now is to offer prayers and support for the new President, as we did in the Cathedral yesterday. But it will also be our job, our prophetic religious responsibility in fact, to offer challenge, when that is necessary, as it certainly will be for this President like all Presidents before him. But I think this President has the capacity to understand that challenge can be the deepest form of support." Amen.
6. Michael Novak throws on some cold water: "The job of president is to cope with his own coming tragedy. No man can fulfill all the hopes that go with the office. His own strengths often undo him."
7. Two women writers speak against abortion: Frederica and Kathryn Jean Lopez.
8. This is our President's biggest challenge: the States and unemployment figures.
9. San Diego conservative writer, Ruben Navarrette Jr gets after Congress: Do your job!
10. Now for a crackpot link: The Blog GenderAnalyzer.


Don't look now, but the Fightin' Illini have one very good basketball team.

The new owner of the Cubs met his wife in the bleachers at Wrigley. Now that is cool. And good ol' Mike Imrem reminds the new owner that he won't change Cubs history. (Mike Imrem is a truth-teller.)

Joe Torre comes out swinging, NY style.

We'll miss the SuperBowl and we'll miss the ads.

OK, I saw this the other day: three lines from movies -- "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." "Here's looking at you, kid." "You can't handle the truth!"

What's your favorite movie line?

We shift now for a while from the word "gospel/gospeling" to "heralding/herald" (Greek word is kerusso/kerygma/kerux). We back up to the Gospels again, and we begin with John (Matt 3:1-2) and Jesus (4::

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Very clearly, the gospel both John and Jesus preached is a gospel/preaching that involved these things:

As with Advent and even our Holy Week, ideas for a major seasonal shift like Lent can be difficult to come by. This year I want to focus on something simple. I'm going to focus on fasting one day each week. (By the way, I'm not convinced giving up chocolate or TV is a "fast." Those sorts of denials are better called "abstinences." Fasting is a response to something and entails giving up food or even all food and water for a designated period. It does not focus on getting something in return.)

Each week I want to focus on fasting as a response to sin -- original sin and its effects -- as I anticipate Good Friday and the glory of Easter.

And I invite you to prepare for Lent and to participate in Lent (as preparation for Holy Week) by taking a look at Fasting: The Ancient Practices .

Friends think about, talk about, and enjoy happiness with one another. David Naugle's new book, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness, is a good book to read and a good book to discuss -- and I...

Comments  made in the year 1955!  'I'll  tell you one thing, if things keep going the way  they are, it's going to be impossible to  buy a week's groceries for  $20.00.'Have  you seen the new cars coming out next  year?  ...

We finish our series on "gospel" today, and we do so by looking briefly at three references to "gospel" in Revelation:10: 5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to...

Some of you -- like us -- have both a blog and a Facebook account. Some suggest the future blog will be on Facebook while others say Facebook is so much more for networking and interpersonal stuff and e-mailing that...

One of the more interesting artists in the history of the West is Vincent Van Gogh.  One of the more fascinating dimensions of Van Gogh's art was his expression of hope in bright yellow colors, and the absence of such...

The peace of God be over me to shelter me, under me to uphold me, about me to protect me, behind me to direct me, ever with me to save me. The peace of all peace be mine this night...

60 above zero:  Wisconsinites plant gardens.50 above zero:  People are sunbathing in Green Bay .40 above zero:  Wisconsinites drive with the sunroof open.32 above zero:  The water in  Hayward gets thicker.20 above zero:  Wisconsinites throw on a flannel shirt.15 above...

Does gospel preaching matter? This is a question that Peter answers. Here are his words, from 1 Peter 4:17: 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it...

This post is written by my friend and graduate assistant, Chris Ridgeway, a student at North Park Theological Seminary, and an active worker in the Great Commission Ministries. He was at the Inauguration; I asked him if he'd think of...

Kris and I received from her grandmother a great chair. We eventually had it re-upholstered but it wore down, too. So, we took it to my basement study and it has been my reading chair for more than a decade....

A friend writes to ask about how missional and emerging churches and gatherings and groups are doing when it comes to justice ministries. She is doing some work on this theme and I'd like to know some reports out there...

Peter says something in chp 4 about the gospel that has perplexed many for centuries: 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men...

One of the serious challenges facing many in our church today - in fact our church for the last couple centuries - is the interaction between reason and faith.  How can we reconcile our increasingly sophisticated knowledge of history, of...

Our book on fasting is now available. We worked on this book for about a year; it is one of the volumes in Nelson's The Ancient Practices Series. Phyllis Tickle is the General Editor and other volumes now available...

Where am I wrong?If the monies that were designated for non-abortion access NGOs are now being shifted (because of President Obama's rescinding of the Mexico City Policy) to abortion-access NGOs, then we have a major issue: The rescinding of the...

Here is what I know: (1) Reagan, Bush, and Bush pulled funding to any international NGO (non-government organization) clinics that provided access, through referrals, to abortions; (2) Clinton and now Obama have undone the Reagan-Bush-Bush decisions. (The pulling of support...

We continue in our series of the meaning of the word "gospel" in the New Testament with how Peter uses "gospel." Today we look 1 Peter 1:25.22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have...

In our series on Bible readers, based on our book The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible , we have taken some brief looks at the bad habits or exaggerations in our reading of the Bible. I want...

There was quite a dust-up about the prayers at the Inauguration. Analysis of the prayers of others is not something I'm fond of, so I stayed back but this week's prayer in The Book of Common Prayer -- to be...

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works;...

Yes here's the final results of evolution:Manual typewriter ... then Electric typewriter ... then PC ... then Apple. We bought one in 1984 and have not looked back! What's your favorite Mac story?...

Here is our 3 month old grandson with his father learning to "talk." We love it. ...

We've got a new President and a new first lady (and a new website). Jonathan Williams has an excellent set of suggestions on learning to turn "them" into "us." One of our students at North Park doing good. Art Boulet...

A man is holding here a 20 lb lobster. How many lobster rolls would this make? Or how much "chowda"?...

Peter, too, talks about the gospel in his first letter. We begin in chapter one:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find...

I don't know why but Google Reader evidently is not working. I have talked with the folks at Beliefnet and the problem evidently is not theirs. BUT ... if you subscribe to this it will work on google reader.  Google...

We begin a new "friday is for friends" series next week, but today we introduce the theme: happiness. I encourage you to purchase and read David Naugle's newest book, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness ,...

Barack Obama, as far as I'm concerned, is not off to a good start when it comes to "change" and ending the "politics as usual" he claimed in his campaign. First, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade he has...

This dwelling, O God, by Thee be blest; and each one who here this night does rest....

I've been asked what are the best blogs in biblical studies. What do you think? Provide links if you can....

We are studying on this blog the meaning of the word "gospel" in the Bible. This is actually the 59th post in this series as we "blog" our way through the references. I am doing some writing on the "gospel,"...

What do you think of this statement? It was said by someone named Basil Willey about Francis Newman (John Henry Newman's brother) and I found it in the Hempton book in the post we had earlier today. What "story" is...

One of the most famous converts from evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism, someone I write about in Finding Faith, Losing Faith: Stories of Conversion and Apostasy , was John Henry Newman. Today we look at his brother, Francis, who also was...

Recently Kris and were in a coffee shopped owned by an Italian family and they served one fine cup of LavAzza. So, we bought a big bag of what makes LavAzza's family proud. Great crema and taste and the aromas...

Paul offers us a near-summary of the gospel in poetic terms in 2 Timothy 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained...

In this last post on Karl Giberson's excellent book Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution I would like to concentrate on two questions. This is probably one too many, but we will give it a...

The last chap of Gary Macy'sThe Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West demonstrates that the 12th Century saw a new definition of "ordain" and a completely contrary (and historic) view of Abelard (and Heloise).The...

Don Johnson, erstwhile pastor in Minneapolis and now in Santa Barbara, connects us to this NY Times article on meetings. How about you, what do you think of meetings? Part of the problem at such meetings is that the leader...

It may be Inauguration Day, but it's also gospel/Bible study day! IIn Paul's second letter to Timothy, chapter one, he says this:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with...

Our prayer today, Our Father, is for our President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Our prayers include [Please add your prayers as well]:That You, the infinite font of wisdom, might grant him wisdom daily, for our country and...

We in Illinois are proud today; we in the USA are proud today. The Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincolon, an Illinoisan, has taken a new step forward that Lincoln never imagined. Our attention today is on another Illinoisan, someone upon...

What do you think? Would Jesus cancel class for the Inauguration?...

Perhaps you've already seen this now public letter from our President-Elect to his daughters.Dear Malia and Sasha, I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades...

Paul's Pastoral letters, those written to Timothy and Titus, contain references to the word "gospel" and we want to dip into 1 Timothy 1 today:8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that...

Is it perhaps a providential accident that today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, the man who decades ago dreamed of the day that will happen tomorrow? My favorite collection of Martin Luther Kings wriitngs is A Testament of...

This post is by Mary Veeneman, professor of theology at North Park University.In the speech he gave the night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. said these words: "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got...

Bill Hybels is committed to racial reconcilation. Not only are we seeing this commitment in the rise of the so-called minority population at Willow (up to 20%), but we are seeing it in his annual dedication of Martin Luther King...

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ¹s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed...

My favorite blog-photographer is Steve McCoy, a pastor in our area. I hope you visit his photography stream. Great stuff and I picked this one for a winter scene. I'm hoping the road of this winter is coming to an...

What will you be doing during the Inauguration of our next President, Barack Obama? Here's a link to WP's Inauguration Central....

We need to string together a few texts from Paul's letter to the Philippians. 2: 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the...

Recently at Out of Ur blog I posted something about "maestro" Bible readers and I received a letter from a "Red Letter Christian." Here is a clipped paragraph:I understand completely when you say that when Jesus is made Maestro it...

I recently read Andy Crouch's new book, Culture-Making, a winding book on culture and how Christians can be cultivators of culture.Andy's favorite letter is "C" -- and he's got more C's in this book than any book I've seen. But,...

We ask this question: If it is the case that American military personnel tortured those in GTMO, and this piece from The Washington Post shows that torture occurred, what can we do? To whom do we write? The Obama Administration...

Take your lunch break with us today and contemplate the meaning of the word gospel. If Ephesians emphasized the word "peace," Philippians emphasizes "Christ." These are not alternatives but different ways of saying the same thing: the "peace" of Ephesians...

Karl Giberson in his recent book Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution has devoted several chapters to discussion of Darwin's dark companions and to the history that has led to the culture war we find...

George Eliot was Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880), and a famous novelist. She is the subject of David Hempton's first study in how artists struggle with the evangelical faith ( Evangelical Disenchantment: Nine Portraits of Faith and Doubt ). Eliot's most...

Just saw this ... what do you think? Any responses?Forget about cutting back on cable and pricey cappuccinos. For some couples, a shaky economy means putting plans to grow or start a family on hold. The economy is a leading...

Our next two references to "gospel" in Philippians are found at 1:12 and 1:16. Here they are in context:12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a...

 I have a number of favorite Jewish writers, including may favorite essayist Joseph Epstein. When it comes to the depths of spirituality, very few plumb the depths in their own way like Abraham Joshua Heschel and his two-volume set The...

Are there any good reasons, and what might they be, for a 55 year old like me to begin watching 24? What is the big idea of 24? What are your favorite features of 24? What kinds of conversations does...

Victor Davis Hanson, a philosopher of international relations from a neoconservative viewpoints, queries if the optimism about Obama and international relations is more hooplah and than reality. Here is an excerpt of his piece:There is great hope that President-elect Obama...

Of the prison epistles Paul writes, Philippians has the most references to "gospel." It is one of the central themes that hold this letter together.1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of...

In the major chapter of Gary Macy's The Hidden History of Women's Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West, Macy sketches what it is that women were doing in the early Medieval Age. What he sketches clearly demonstrates that women...

On this blog we have given lots of attention to faith and science and the struggle scientists have with the orthodox Christian faith. What about artists? I read this statement not long ago and want to have a conversation about...

Recently a senior Vatican official compared Gaza to a concentration camp? Two questions: (1) What are the conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza strip? (2) How appropriate is this kind of language? JERUSALEM -- Israel said Saturday it was shocked...

Our next "gospel" text in the New Testament comes from the closing to Ephesians, in chapter six. It's part of a longer text and I want to quote all of it:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty...

This is what some folks want when they read the Bible: they open their Bible looking for a good word, but by "good word" they mean a daily habit of reading the Bible in search of a blessing (a quiet...

Who then are the Third Way thinkers and writers? The other day I accidentally posted this and then took it down when I realized it, but Andy Rowell (see below) caught it first and contributed a wonderful set of links...

Ps 104:32: "May the glory of the LORD endure for ever;* may the LORD rejoice in all his works. He looks at the earth and it trembles;* he touches the mountains and they smoke." A picture of a strike in...

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have...

I'm part of the new Origins Project. Take a look and think about participating....

The Hockey players of this world, being huge Cubs fans, couldn't wait until April and decided to play a game ... of hockey (I forgive 'em) ... at Wrigley. I know someone from O! Canada! who came down to watch...

About 4pm on days I'm home I make our salad for dinner, and I like making salads ... lots of folks, I suspect, are bored with making salads so they buy bags of pre-made salads and toss a handful or...

We're experimenting with something for a couple of weeks: spreading our posts throughout the day instead of loading them up all at once. It was a little cleaner before but it tended to attract all the conversation to one post...

Adam Hamilton's Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics is a perfect blog book. I would love to see a host of evangelical churches using this book for group studies and discussions....

Found this here and thought we could have a conversation. In brief, should we expect big business to do good and to make money? Does this make a difference when you choose your vocation or your job or your employer?...

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a leading voice of Catholic conservatism in America, and one of those rare theologians and spiritual leaders whose influence vastly exceeded the boundaries of their religious community, has died at 72. Neuhaus slipped away Jan. 8,...

Sitting a some prime real estate, a church was chosen by the Boston diocese to be sold ... but the locals said, "No!," and they have now guarded the place for more than 1500 days. From NYT.SCITUATE, Mass. -- There...

A letter from a reader of this blog:I suppose my first question has to do with systematic theology.  Until recently, I would consider myself broadly reformed.  At the moment, I just don't know.  Recently I've grown so tired of trying...

What happens to women in ministry when the ground on which they are standing suddenly shifts? That is, what happens to women who are "ordained" when the word "ordain" suddenly changes? That is the impact of the first chp in...

Paul adds a "wrinkle" to the word "gospel" in Ephesians and it strikes me as very close to how Jesus used his favorite expression, "the gospel of the kingdom." It is found first in Ephesians 2:17 and is also seen...

Mark Twain, looking over the shoulders of Burris and Reid, says cynically (and I quote him), "We have the best congress money can buy." What do you think Burris is saying to Reid?...

Here's our grandson Aksel, listening to his dad telling him how to give the pitcher the sign for a curve ball. ...

What is America like? Are we generous or are we the spoiled brat in the global village? How Christian are the Christians in politics? Third Way thinking addresses these issues, and Adam Hamilton's book sketches ideas for us to think...

It is common in some circles to extol Darwin as one who makes it possible to be a fulfilled atheist and in others to vilify him as the servant of Satan who set out to destroy the faith.  The truth,...

We turn now to Ephesians, a 3d letter of Paul's from prison (accepting the Pauline authorship of the traditional letters). Eph uses "gospel" six times: 1:13; 2:17; 3:6, 8; 6:15, 19. We begin with ...11 In him we were also chosen,...

I read this piece by Saul Singer in the Washington Post. I wonder if Obama's silence is support for Israel, support for taking out Hamas, or an indicator that he's not sure what to think about this international crisis. Any...

Books that even breathe the air of conspiracy theories rarely attract my interest, but I have been gathering for some time a variety of facts about women in ministry that are both unknown to the average Christian and, in my...

1. Green: baseball is played on a green field; hockey on white ice.2. Wrigley, Fenway, Yankee Stadium: name one interesting hockey place.3. Names: Babe Ruth, Pee Wee Reese, Ernie Banks vs. Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr.4. Scoring: single, double,...

Paul uses the word "gospel" one more time in Colossians (1:23) and once in Philiemon 13. Here is the context for Col 1:23:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But...

Roland Burris has been good for Illinois, but he's been sipping too much of Blago's juices of late and took on DC today.Even as Senate leaders continued to challenge his appointment to the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, Roland...

Adam Hamilton, in his book, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics, has a few chps on political or hot-button issues, including situation ethics, abortion, homosexuality and war. I don't want to...

We live in an era of the informal, an impact of the 1960s. Friday is casual for many businesses; pastors go by first names; professors don't have to wear ties or coats and some wear blue jeans; kids "hang out"...

We continue in our series on "gospel" and what it means by turning to the prison letters of Paul, and we begin with Colossians (1:5).3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,...

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns...

It is fashionable today to see the Christian religion as a massive cover up and the real story is supposed to have gone something like this: Jesus was a pious, Torah-observant Jew whom Paul got hold of and cranked up...

Kris and I have been gone and almost completely out of (internet) action for a week. I got the posts done for last week before we left and, with RJS's help (thanks RJS), we got through the week. But, being...

What makes January such a good month for sports?1. Nope, not because we have hour to hour college bowl games between teams I don't follow.2. Nope, not because the Bears are out of the playoffs and that means we can...

Adam Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics, stands with -- I trust -- everyone: if we can't undo Roe v. Wade then at least we can work...

Blurbing is a delicate art. Publishers seek recognizable names that will raise the credibility of the book and its author; publishers also seek diverse blurbs in order to widen the readership. Blurbs, so it seems to me, are there to...

Our last reference in Romans is found in Romans 16:25. Fittingly it is part of a prayer, a doxology:25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the...

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Lk 2:21The Holy Name: Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son...

We continue our series on the meaning of the word "gospel," a word I think has been so reduced in meaning that it will take serious efforts to recover a fully biblical perspective. Romans 15:14-20 reads:...