God, What on Earth are You Doing?

Stuck in the Present

Pooping Elephants

The Battle for Hell

Ecclesiastes, Songs of Songs (Holman Old Testament Commentary, Vol. 14)

The Last Men's Book You'll Ever Need

Good Christians, Good Husbands?

AND I DON’T EVEN AGREE WITH LOTS OF IT!

Leave a reply

I don’t remember being this engrossed in a book for some time.  This has been a good year with a number of wonderful reads, but this one is special.  And I don’t even agree with lots of it!

Here is my review: John Kaag is a philosopher, but don’t let that scare you away from his writing, at least not with this book.

American Philosophy: a Love Story is remarkable twin tour of a long abandoned library and the human heart. Kaag is a candid diagnostician of his own interior life with all its complexities and contradictions.

I’ve been reading some of Kaag’s interlocutors for some time, especially Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a Christian, I disagree with much of what Emerson wrote, but he makes me wrestle with important issues in ways that make me a better Christian…at least a better thinking Christian.

Kaag is vulnerable about his own personal struggles and path to happiness. Like Emerson, I don’t agree with Kaag’s philosophy of life, but reading about his pilgrimage to greater sanity was fascinating and time well spent.

This is a brilliantly conceived and exceedingly satisfying read. If scholars like Kaag wrote more books like this one there would be a whole lot more interest in philosophy!

I think a wonderful movie could be made from this book…at least a well-crafted documentary.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Philosophy-Story-John-Kaag/dp/0374154481

photo2-copy

STOP READING BITS OF THE BIBLE!

Leave a reply

From Richard Hays:

“The Bible is just not a collection of little verses or tidbits of wisdom. When we’re reading the Gospel of Luke, for example, we’re reading a text that has a narrative shape to it. To see what’s going on in the text, you have to read the thing whole and see how the parts relate to the whole.

And the same thing applies not only to individual gospels but also, analogously, to the Bible as a whole. It has a deep and subtle narrative unity—not because unity has been superimposed by ecclesial fiat or by some clever editorial design, but because the diverse biblical witnesses bear common witness to God’s grace-filled action in the story of Israel. The emergence of the biblical writings themselves, in their complexity and diversity, is itself part of God’s mysterious “authorial” action. That’s why I believe that the Old Testament and the New have an underlying narrative unity that can be discerned only in retrospect, when we read the whole thing together.”

The rest is here:http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2016/novdec/deep-and-subtle-unity-of-bible.html?paging=off

HILLARY AND TRUMP, SOMETHING IN COMMON

1 Reply

Actually, I refer to the similar ways their detractors speak of both candidates.  And the detractors I have in mind are us Christians.  By the way, I will not be voting for either, but I digress.

It is amazing to me how many Christians say if Hillary/Trump becomes president, x, y, and z terrible things WILL happen.  Perhaps.  But who knows the future except God, plus the history of revivals reminds us that God can do wonderful things in very dark times. 

So fellow Christians here’s my message: Stop acting as if you KNOW the future.  You don’t, and if you did, you might be very surprised what will occur.

NO COMMENT

Leave a reply

I’ve seen a few magazines have a “NO COMMENT” section for those things that speak for themselves.  In keeping with that tradition, here is the church web site description of Trump enthusiast and Pastor of First Baptist Dallas, Robert Jeffress:

Dr. Robert Jeffress is Senior Pastor of the 12,000-member First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas and a Fox News Contributor. He is also an adjunct professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Dr. Jeffress has made more than 2000 guest appearances on various radio and television programs and regularly appears on major mainstream media outlets, such as Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends,” “The O’Reilly Factor,” “The Kelly File,” and “Hannity;” ”ABC’s “Good Morning America;” and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Dr. Jeffress hosts a daily radio program, Pathway to Victory, that is heard nationwide on over 800 stations in major markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Houston, and Seattle. His weekly television program can be seen in 195 countries and on 11,283 cable and satellite systems throughout the world, including China and on the Trinity Broadcast Network and Daystar.

Dr. Jeffress is the author of 23 books including When Forgiveness Doesn’t Make Sense, Perfect Ending: Why Your Eternal Future Matters Today; Countdown to the Apocalypse: Why ISIS and Ebola Are Only the Beginning; and his newest book was released February 16, 2016, Not All Roads Lead To Heaven: Sharing An Exclusive Jesus In An Inclusive World.

Dr. Jeffress recently led the congregation in the completion of a $135 million re-creation of its downtown campus. The project is the largest in modern church history and serves as a “spiritual oasis” covering six blocks of downtown Dallas.

Dr. Jeffress graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a D.Min., a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a B.S. degree from Baylor University. In May 2010, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Dallas Baptist University. In June 2011, Dr. Jeffress received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Jeffress and his wife Amy have two daughters, Julia and Dorothy, and a son-in-law, Ryan Sadler

 

 

DONE WITH CHURCH

Leave a reply

Dones are those who still believe in Jesus, but are finished with church.  Here is one perspective followed by my own reflection on why Dones exist and are growing:

http://mikeglennonline.com/alternative-theory-dones/

I sadly know too many Dones. Several have shared their stories with me. Some were in positions of leadership, even serving as elders. Two frustrations predominated:

Lots of talk in church about what one should do (and how), but precious little about why.

There was not a safe place where any and all questions could be asked. People are left alone to marinate in their own doubts and struggles.