I’ve been teaching the High School class on Wednesday nights for the past couple of months. We’ve been playing “stump the preacher.” On the first night, they wrote down their questions that they’d love to see me tackle and I promised to give some straight answers. The questions ranged from make-me-proud smart alecky to dead […]
A Question or Two
Here’s a good question that came in at the end of the comments of this post. Is it possible for a local church to be both attractional and missional and still make an impact on the culture ? For example : Can we still invite people, have gospel meetings, seminars,vbs, etc. and also reach out […]
February 13, 2007 by 10 Comments
Seeking is Finding
From How (Not) to Speak of God: We see here that seeking God is not some provisional activity which precedes the goal of finding, but is itself evidence of having already found. Rather than being fulfilled in the presence of God, religious desire is born there. In short, a true spiritual seeking can be understood […]
December 12, 2006 by 7 Comments
A Theology of Food Part 4
So why does food play such a central role in the Bible? Because we can’t live without it. Why does Jesus describe himself in terms of food from heaven? Because we can’t really live without him. It’s no accident that God embeds so much meaning and significance in an everyday object that we can’t live […]
November 23, 2006 by 4 Comments
A Theology of Food Part 3
Food plays a major role in Jesus’ life and ministry. In the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread. Jesus refuses and quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. For his first miracle, Jesus turns water into wine. He won’t turn stones into bread, but he will turn water into wine. I like that. During […]
November 22, 2006 by 2 Comments
A Theology of Food Part 2
In Scripture, food points to the gracious provision of God. Genesis 1:29-30 (NIV) 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth […]
November 21, 2006 by 2 Comments
A Theology of Food
Despite what those who jumped the gun back in October might have us believe, this week is the official start of the Holiday Eating Season. Researchers estimate that the average American gains one pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. I take pride in being above average in this regard. Let’s forget about moderation. Let’s […]
November 20, 2006 by 2 Comments
Taking God Seriously
I recently heard Miroslav Volf say in an interview that the atheist/skeptic/doubter who rails against God because of the problem of suffering and evil in the world may actually be closer to God than some Christians. Is it possible that the atheist/skeptic/doubter is taking the claim about God being good and loving more seriously than […]
October 23, 2006 by 18 Comments
Hypernymous
Here’s a paragraph from Rollins’ How (Not) to Speak of God that’s worth thinking about: What is beginning to arise from the discussion so far is the idea that God ought to be understood as radically transcendent, not because God is somehow distant and remote from us, but precisely because God is immanent. In the […]
October 22, 2006 by 2 Comments
How (Not) to Speak of God
I’m encouraging everyone I know to read Peter Rollins’ How (Not) to Speak of God. It has stimulated my thinking more than any book I’ve read in the last year or two. It’s fairly short, but it’s dense. The payoff is worth the time spent. It informed some of what I said at the Zoe […]
October 11, 2006 by 6 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons