For more than a century, Bible translators have laboured to translate God’s Word into modern English. The Twentieth Century New Testament was the work of a committee of lay people and clergy alike who were products of the same educational system that produced some of the giants of English literature. It was a pioneering effort …
Maybe That’s Why Christianity is Becoming a Non-Western Religion
Robert Easter (who is sorely dissappointed that I'm not planning on formally reverting to Anglicanism any time soon) made a very good point in his comment on my piece Is Charismatic Culture African? Your source on the “Sola Panel” scares the bejabbers out of me. A parallel statement would be, “This whole business of an …
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Reflections on the 2008 General Assembly
Another Church of God General Assembly is, as I like to say, “in the can.” The “preachers' watering hole” in the lobby at the Marriott Rivercentre (the bar, for my Anglican friends, was Starbucks) is quiet now, having been the place to be for much of the Assembly. All you had to do was to …
Mission of Jesus Resurgence Meeting
I've been posting (especially this) recently in concert on some interesting discussions that my church has been having in anticipation of our General Assembly. Well, this is the culmination of that: the Mission of Jesus Resurgence Meeting at same General Assembly. You can watch below, or click here and interact with the meeting (if it's …
Mission of Jesus Resurgence Meeting Tonight
Tonight at 2130 CDT will be the Mission of Jesus Resurgence Meeting, sponsored by MissionalCOG. For those of you who follow this blog, the church I'm in is having its General Assembly this week, and you can get to see for yourself what dissenters look like in a Pentecostal church.
Is Obama Running for “Dominus et Deus?”
For my Christian visitors who may not be aware: the Roman Emperor Domitian was the first to demand that he be called "Dominus et Deus" (Lord and God.) The refusal of Christians to call him that was a source of persecution, and may well have caused John's exile at Patmos, from where he wrote the …
Reply to “Jon” on Brian McLaren and his Bridge to Nowhere
It seems that Jon and Jon want to continue the discussion on my recent post re Brian McLaren. Their comments are here. So here goes: I read McLaren as saying we have to adapt to a changed environment. That doesn't have to mean selling out, but rather that the normative C20th model of doing church …
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Why Don’t Churches Make Disciples?
Robert Easter at Sanctifusion asks this question, and answers as follows: Our world view is all wrong. "Be holy as I am holy" is not a core conviction. We prefer the things that are "more exciting" - like worship, harvesting tithes, building buildings, getting on the latest trendy movement of evangelicalism. Not intentional enough. We …
Thoughts on the Upcoming Church of God General Assembly: “I don’t know if my church loves me any more or not”
Around the time of the 2006 Church of God General Assembly in Indianapolis, I began writing my last novel, The Ten Weeks. At the core of the plot is the story of one French Catholic high school senior, Madeleine des Cieux, who performs a series of miracles. This generates a number of reactions, but her …
Please Search the Book Again
This week's podcast puts this website into a realm few thought we would go: Southern Gospel. The song is Please Search the Book Again, from the Greenville, SC group Southern Joy on their album Over the Next Hill. If you're wondering whether a search through this book would turn up your name or not, click …
