We're pretty much in a war zone these days between police, black people and just about everyone else being the shooter or the shot. I find it hard to really say anything meaningful about it. One of the "spin-offs" of my PhD pursuits is riding the "city" bus. Actually we have a regional authority called …
My Response to "Think Younger" and the Church of God General Assembly
With our Independence Day celebration out of the way, it's time for those of us in the Church of God to head to Nashville (if not physically, virtually) for the Church of God General Assembly. It should be an interesting one; three of the five members of the executive committee will be going off of …
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Another Anglican Divine Hit the Skids
In the nearly nineteen years this site has been active, I’ve had the opportunity to skewer Anglican and Episcopal “divines” for their strange and unBiblical positions. My most recent efforts have related to my prep school’s chaplain and John Shelby Spong. One of the irritating things I’ve run across in the Anglican/Episcopal blogosphere is the …
My "Journey" with Jürgen Moltmann
Diving for stuff in a discard bin isn’t the classiest way to spend one’s time, but for the academic diving in the free book bin at the used book store can be a true adventure. (Diving in the dumpster may be a necessity for the adjunct academic, and the new overtime rules don’t help a …
You Really Can Do Biblical Preaching From a Lectionary
Recently my wife and I ventured to Regent University for me to deliver a paper. While there we got the chance to view one of the University's new acquisitions, namely a Torah scroll from Yemen.The fact that a Christian university could acquire such a donation is a sign of the times: Evangelicals are about the …
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Is Reformed Religion Rational?
One of my Pentecostal academic friends directed me towards this piece, "How Christian Rationalism Turned Me Into a Psychopath, or A Biblical Defense of Feelings," by one Michael Minkoff, Jr.. It summarizes his journey through Reformed religion, how same religion attempted to drill into him the virtues of rationality and the vices of letting your …
After the Resurrection, Did Our Lord Need Purification?
Of all of Jesus Christ's post-resurrection appearances, this one is, in many ways, the most intriguing: Meanwhile Mary was standing close outside the tomb, weeping. Still weeping, she leant forward into the tomb, And perceived two angels clothed in white sitting there, where the body of Jesus had been lying, one where the head and …
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The Meaning of Outside the Camp: A Good Friday Reflection
If I had to pick a favourite Bible verse or passage, it would be this: The bodies of those animals whose blood is brought by the High Priest into the Sanctuary, as an offering for sin, are burnt outside the camp. And so Jesus, also, to purify the People by his own blood, suffered outside …
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Happy Nowruz to the People of the "King of Kings"
Today is Nowruz, the spring equinox festival of the Iranians. To my Iranian friends, who have meant so much, hope you've had a good festival season (it runs about two weeks back in the old country.) Last November I ran a piece about the Persian origin of the term "King of Kings," which most Christians …
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If the Country Doesn't Make It, Will You?
This election cycle has been a wild one, and we're not even halfway through the primary season. Both parties are seeing broad-based revolts in their bases. The Democrat establishment has done a better job of managing the upheaval, because they did what the Republicans did not: pick one candidate and get behind her. Bernie Sanders …
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