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On the plane yesterday the man sitting with us told us he was "raised Jewish" but that he went to a college where he had to take some Christianity, so he's got some Christianity in him, and then he said it's all rolled up into an overriding Zen Buddhism. There you have it: New Agers make up their own religion. True or not?
, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine cultural scripts that work against the gospel work in the Church.
Nightline's series on the Ten Commandments moves to the 8th Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal."
Paul now gets a vision to enter into Greece for missional work, and this means he enters into what we today call Europe. While it is popular to make a big deal of this, it was all the Roman Empire at that time. Paul enters because of a vision about a man from Macedonia (pictured).16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia. 16:7 When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this, 16:8 so they passed through Mysia and went down to Troas. 16:9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there urging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" 16:10 After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
Missional work involves, at times and probably not for all, listening to the Spirit of God to guide and direct and to set the agenda. We don't know who this "man" is; we don't know that he was from Philippi; we do know that Paul sensed that God was calling him to Macedonia.
Some recent studies are suggesting major shifting in the testing of women with mammograms. Some are saying no need for tests before 50; others are poo-poohing the idea that self-testing does much good ... and this recalls a debate all the way to Congress about a decade ago.
What do you think about these changes? Any stories to tell?
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16:1 He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 16:2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 16:3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 16:4 As they went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey. 16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.
, for her expert insights into the Book of Acts.
I announced last week that we are beginning a new series this week with David Opderbeck, a professor of law. He will educate us on law -- should be fun.My question for the opening post in this series is "what is 'Law'?"
Here's the questions for this post: Which approach - formalism or realism - better accounts for "law" and for the role of "law" in society? As Christians living in a post-industrial, scientific, and/or postmodern age, are there approaches to "law" we can adopt without falling into either an extreme formalism or an extreme legal realism?
Many people respond to this question with what legal scholars would call a "formalist" definition: law is a set of rules or principles that govern behavior. This sort of definition raises important questions about the sources of "law" and the functions of a legal system.
In the Western tradition, "law" historically was rooted in metaphysics - for the Greeks, in the realm of pure thought (Plato's "forms"); for the Romans, in the divine authority of the Emperor; and for Christendom, in God, particularly as God's will was mediated through the Church, reason, and the King. During the Enlightenment, "law" was still mostly conceived of in formalist terms, but the primary source of law became reason, or "Natural Law." This is why the Declaration of Independence grounds universal human rights in the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."
In their new book, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives
, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine cultural scripts that work against the gospel work in the Church.
Everett Worthington, Jr., a well-known expert on the emotional and psychological dimensions of forgiveness, has given us a book so many need: forgiveness applied to more than just interpersonal dimensions. His new book is called A Just Forgiveness: Responsible Healing Without Excusing Injustice
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Jerusalem remained at that time the center of God's people and that meant also the central city for the Church, the people of Messiah Jesus. This is the context for the next passage, a passage for which we need to give thanks and about which we need to be sorry:15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing."15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had a sharp disagreement, so that they parted company. Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, 15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. 15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches..
We are moving from an age of belief to an age of the Spirit. We are open to the Spirit and pray for the work and power of the Spirit.
An Age of the Spirit doesn't mean laissez faire anything goes spirituality. Nor does it mean Charismatic Christianity with speaking in tongues, prayer languages, prophecy, and ecstatic worship (although it may include all of these - and will include these for some). But it does mean a step away from modern rationalist materialism and proposition centered faith. Even more importantly, it means breaking free of our view that body and soul, flesh and spirit are separate and separable entities - we need a fully embodied Christianity focused on God and on His work, His presence, and His mission; isn't this, after all, what true religion and for that matter biblical Christianity is?
Today I would like to put up an excerpt from Tom Wright - from a lecture that he gave at Calvin College in January of 2007 - on Space, Time, and Sacraments. (You can download both lectures and the q&a sessions from the link, his homily on Luke 24 is also well worth listening to.) The excerpt I would like to consider is 45 minutes into the second lecture, Sacraments and New Creation and runs about 4 minutes.
As you read (or listen to) the excerpt I would like to focus on the following question:
What is the significance of sacrament, particularly the Lord's Supper, in our worship and our faith? Do we need the sacramental life of the church as part of our mission to follow God and participate in His mission?
Brand new book on an important topic: How do we move beyond the Bible? Should we? Better yet: Since we have to, how do we move beyond the Bible into our world but do this biblically? This is the concern of Zondervan's new Counterpoint book edited by Gary Meadors: Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology)
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, which addresses the same themes under the model of "discernment." Today I want to set up the book and then move into the first model of "going beyond" by my former colleague, Walt Kaiser, with his "principlizing method."
The missiological shift like the situational shift of the missional church is filled with stark contrasts between how mission was conceived in the traditional church a hundred or so years ago and how it ought to be conceived today in the Post-Christian West. Michael Goheen who is one of the leading scholars on Lesslie Newbigin's life and thought spoke at an Acts 29 church planting conference. Goheen filled out what the stark contrasts are between traditional church and the missional churches understanding of mission:
Goheen's helpful comparison could be expanded upon (indeed he does so elsewhere in his writing). Lesslie Newbigin in Mission in Christ's Way offers a helpful understanding of the nature of mission in relation to the Kingdom of God and the Spirit of God;
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Let's back up again to see what is going on if we look at the Book of Acts in its presentation of God's mission. The more strict Pharisaic believers contend that Gentile converts have to "go all the way" to circumcision to be fully devoted (Jewish) Messiah followers. The issue is no small one: it has to do with one's view of Scripture, one's view of how God regulates God's people, and one's view of authority. It was too simple, the apostles argued, to say "it is written" without taking into consideration what God's big plan was and how God would incorporate the Gentiles. So, instead of arguing that Gentiles had to become Jews, the apostles argued that Gentiles could remain Gentiles -- and they anchored this in the Torah itself (probably Lev 17-18). Gentiles will be expected to keep a minimum of Torah -- or better yet the Torah as shaped for the Gentile. So, here's the letter sent to the Christians that sums up what the apostolic conference determined:
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In my view, one of the most pressing issues in our day is what I would call moral awareness. I don''t mean that people aren't aware of what they think or believe; what I mean is a lack of awareness of how people make moral decisions. This post raises this issue:
, Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine cultural scripts that work against the gospel work in the Church. In many ways this book overlaps with Greg Boyd's book, which we have already posted about, so I'm shifting our attention away from Boyd's book to Wilkens and Sanford.
Two of my students, in the last month, have sat in my office in tears -- their problem, though from two different angles, was doubt. Everything was changing, they were confused, they were having trouble finding their way ... 
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She did it, finally, and we have so much to look forward with Michelle Wie.Read this post »The Michelle Wie era has, at long last, begun. After years of injury and controversy, too much hype and money and not enough birdies, Wie won her first pro tournament Sunday afternoon at the LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. Typical of Wie's highly melodramatic career, the win didn't come easily, as she survived a final round dogfight with a half-dozen of the game's biggest names, ultimately making five straight nerve-jangling pars and then a gorgeous birdie on the final hole to close out a two-stroke victory over Paula Creamer.
Along the way Wie displayed both her awesome talent and enduring starpower, reminding everyone what all the fuss was about in the first place. It was a deeply personal triumph, capping a period of tremendous maturation on and off the golf course.
Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1939582,00.html#ixzz0WyfdrYNz
Read this post »St Mary's College, The School of Divinity
Six New Scholarships to Celebrate 600 Years of Divinity in St Andrews
The School of Divinity at St Mary's College, St Andrews, Scotland is offering six PhD scholarships to be taken up in the Autumn of 2010--or as soon as possible thereafter--to work in the following fields:
- The Matthew Black Scholarship: for a student interested in Old Testament / Hebrew Bible
- The Donald M. Baillie Scholarship: for a student interested in Theology;
- The Richard Bauckham Scholarship: for a student interested in New Testament;
- The Emanuel Tov Scholarship: for a student interested in Old Testament / Hebrew Bible Textual Criticism;
- The Queen Margaret of Scotland Scholarship: for a student interested in any field of Divinity;
- The Lady Kenmure Scholarship: for a student interested in any field of Divinity.
The scholarships cover home fees for a UK or EU student, or a contribution of around £3500 per annum towards overseas fees. An additional stipend of £3000 (or £1000 for the fourth scholarship) is offered to the recipients. Recipients of the scholarships (1-4) will be asked to teach one language class in their second and third year of residency or do equivalent work.
The successful candidates will join a rapidly expanding School of Divinity postgraduate program.
Candidates for these scholarships are required to fill out the normal post graduate application forms. Special attention will be given to the PhD proposal.
Further details can be obtained from: Ms Margot Clements, Postgraduate Liaison, School of Divinity, St Mary's College, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JU, Scotland, Email: Mc41@st-andrews.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is January 15, 2010.
Many today admit the need to have multiple voices at the table when important subjects are discussed, and one such "table" is Bible study: and the "voices" are commentaries. 
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First, there is a brand new series from Wipf and Stock -- Cascade Books -- edited by Michael Bird and Craig Keener, with an impressive list of assigned authors. The series is called the New Covenant Commentary Series. The first one I've seen and read is by Michael Bird: Colossians and Philemon (New Covenant Commentary)
. Noteworthy features of the series: diversity (a list of global scholars), a focus on paragraph level instead of verse-by-verse level, and the authors are commissioned to ponder how the Bible impacts new covenant communities today.