The other day I saw a TV commercial for Andrea Bocelli’s new CD of Christmas songs titled “my Christmas.” Andrea Bocelli, whom Oprah adores, is a fantastic Italian singer. In the ad he was singing “Ave, Maria” and I felt a little guilty for really liking it. Why? Can a good Protestant really enjoy “Ave, [...]
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Posted in Culture, Jesus, Ministry, Theology on Dec 4th, 2009
I appreciate thoughtful, challenging books like Ben F. Meyer’s The Aims of Jesus. This is my second time through the book and I am reading it more slowly and intentionally.
John the Baptist
Meyer reasons that we need to discern the aims of John the Baptist in the quest to discover Jesus’ aims. John was an “eschatological [...]
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The New American Evangelicalism Version reads…
“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by fear from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by fear’.” -Romans 1:17
Faith has been replaced by fear. It’s everywhere. Why don’t we admit it and sing, “Fear is the [...]
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I am going to generate a few posts from reading Ben F. Meyer’s The Aims of Jesus: With a New Introduction by N.T. Wright.
Meyer writes, “Kerygma and catechesis instinctively took narrative form, for salvation was conceived as ‘event’ rather than as ‘truth’. The question for preacher and catechist was not ‘What is the first principle?’ [...]
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Posted in Culture, Jesus, Ministry, Theology on Nov 2nd, 2009
In these days of the E.S.A., not U.S.A., the discussion of power becomes a multi-level conversation. What is the E.S.A.? The alleged Empire of States of America. Empire is the trendy word when the concept of power is the topic of conversation. The idea that the U.S.A. is an empire is plain silly and it’s [...]
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Posted in Culture, Jesus, Ministry, Theology on Oct 26th, 2009
If Jesus would have given in to the objections of Pharisees and scribes, I think he would have died of niceness. Forget the cross. A lot of USAmerican middle-class Christians probably think that would have been just fine because they are dying everyday of niceness. Bored silly with the faith.
Christians are expected to be [...]
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