February 2012
1 post
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Ash Wednesday Sermon
Ancient Audience:
We all stand on the edge of our own demise.
None new that better than the people of God during the time when the book of Joel was proclaimed. Joel 2:1-2 tells us that the people of God are standing on the edge of battle against the most viscous and ferocious enemy in the known world, all the people of God could do was barricade themselves in the city of Jerusalem. Their...
January 2012
11 posts
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Death, Suffering, and God's Role in it. →
Dr. Ben Witherington writes on the tragic death of his daughter at the tender age of 32. A piece not to be missed.
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“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears...”
– Samuel Chadwick
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"Why I hate religion, but love Jesus:" A...
Yesterday i ran across a video that is going viral among the evangelical constituency and it enraged me. Yet, being in the midst of the busiest week of my work year, i have decided to allow another blogger weigh in on why the video creates a false dichotomy and severely truncates what Jesus did. The author’s name is Zack Hunt and you can check out his thoughts on the video here:
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WatchThe church does a great job explaining how we are different, but we need to do a better job showing how we are the same.
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“Worship was their conversation.”
– Dr. Bob Stamps on the Apostolic Church
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WatchOne of America’s greatest preachers on preaching. I am honored to know Dr. Kalas.
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“For His it was once more both to bring the corruptible to incorruption, and to...”
– Athanasius - On The Incarnation (via drewtriesagain)
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Reading John Wesley's Standard 52 Sermons in...
A group of friends and I have decided to journey through John Wesley’s standard 52 sermons together. We will be reading one a week and then dialoging about them on a blog we created. Check out our thoughts and join the conversation. It should be enriching.
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Book Review: The Adolescent Journey
THE ADOLESCENT JOURNEY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH. By Amy E. Jacober. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011. Pp. 7-167. $18.00
As a practitioner in the field of high school youth ministry since 2003, I have grown accustom to skipping right past most youth ministry literature and moving to the “big boy” literature of theology proper and missiology (for practical matters). I...
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“When we read Scripture, allow it to have its authoritative way with us, and...”
– Will Willimon~ United Methodist Beliefs: A Brief Introduction
December 2011
5 posts
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Advent Thoughts: On Prayer
Prayer is the ultimate act of subversion~ it shows that we place our trust not in the evil structures that jockey for power and control, but in a helpless babe and a crucified man. Prayer subverts the kingdoms of this world by putting weakness on display. It screams that our hope is not in what we can see, but in what we have seen and what we will see. Moses told YHWH in Exodus that he would...
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Book Review: The African Memory of Mark
THE AFRICAN MEMORY OF MARK: REASSESSING EARLY CHURCH TRADITION. By Thomas C. Oden. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011. Pp. 7-278. $22.00
At the end of Tom Oden’s sterling book The African Memory of Mark, he states that “Africans have a right to retrieve what modern historicism has take captive (256).” Weaving together sources both modern and ancient, Oden takes the reader...
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Album Review: "We Bought A Zoo" music by Jónsi
Having followed Jónsi Birgisson and the band Sigur Rós since 2003, I eagerly anticipate every bit of music he or the band puts out. I think this is why I was so excited to learn that Jonsi had scored the upcoming movie directed by Cameron Crowe called We Bought a Zoo. Sigur Rós and Jónsi have always created music that is both technically beautiful and creatively inspiring. This soundtrack...
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Segment Survey of Romans 1:18-2:29
Segmant Survey
Romans 1:18-2:29
General and specific materials of the book:
1:18-32~ Gentiles found guilty. 1:18-25~ The Gentiles knew God, but did not worship Him as God.
1:26-32~ The Gentiles have been handed over to sin.
2:1-11~ Readers found guilty. 2:1-4~ You who judge are just as guilty.
2:5-11~ Your deeds condemn you.
2:12-16~ All our found guilty. 2:12-13~ The doers of the law...
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Advent: If your God is so great, why doesn't he...
As I ponder the greatest event in human history and antipate the culmination of that historic event, i cant help but think about how through the Advent of Christ, He really does “speak our language!” Through the Incarnation, Christ became human, He became one of us. As we ponder that and the 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us remember that we are not only called to...
November 2011
4 posts
4 tags
Wisdom for New Pastors~ Insight from the Elliotts →
While living in Wilmore, I had the privelage of calling Steve Elliott my pastor and his wife Marilyn Elliott my chaplain and spiritual advisor. Even just a few months out of seminary, i realize the gift they are and the incredible model they continue to be for me. After reading these several insights from them, i am reminded once again of their heart for God and His people. To my collogues in...
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A Review: American Saint: Francis Asbury and the...
John Wigger, American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
In American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists, John Wigger states that “in 1775, fewer than one out of ever eight hundred Americans was a Methodist; by 1812, Methodists numbered one out of every thirty-six Americans.” Outstanding growth such as that coupled with the fact that...
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DIsgusted: Missions or Colonization?
I am co-leading a trip for high school students to the country of Haiti this coming June/July and i came across this fact regarding the colonization of Haiti in the 15th century:
“When Christopher Columbus landed on what he later named Hispaniola in 1492, the people greeted him with offerings, unaware that he was claiming their lands for Spain. By 1508, the Hispaniola’s native...
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October 2011
3 posts
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Actors in a Cosmic Drama
Ordination in the United Methodist Church requires that you take four classes specifically geared toward the polity, history, and theology of the UM church. Currently I am taking United Methodist history and my professor has assigned us to read a book surrounding the history of the Methodist Church and report on it. Since i love histroy and i have been wanting to study the rise of Christianity...
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A New Endeavor
In the past month or so I have been given the opportunity to write with a conglomeration of young scholars from diverse faith traditions about culture and politics and how they intersect with faith. The writing is for an interfaith journal and can be found at www.stateofformation.org. I will be periodically linking my blog to articles that are posted there and here is the first one: Enjoy!
...
September 2011
1 post
5 tags
The Epistle to the Romans: A Survey
I have been studying the book of Romans for the past few months and I recently did a survey of the whole book. Any feedback and/or push-back would be great.
9/6/11
Book Survey of Romans
General and specific materials of the book:
1:1-8:39- Vita Salutis for Humanity 1:1-17- Greetings and Prayer
1:18-32- The Evil of the Pagens
1:32-2:29- The Evil of ALL of Humanity
3:1-26- The Law...
August 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Book Review: The Heart of the Gospel: The Theology...
THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL: THE THEOLOGY BEHIND THE MASTER PLAN OF EVANGELISM. By Robert E. Coleman. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011. Pp. 7-298. $19.99.
With evangelism and its necessity being hotly contested in Christian circles, Coleman’s book acts as clarion call to the whole church to take up the mantle that Jesus gave: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. (Matt....
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“What is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a...”
– Mark Twain in Innocents Abroad
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Sermon Idea for 8/7
Hey all,
We are having “Youth Sunday” the next two weeks at The Foundry UMC and I am preaching. I would love some feedback from some of my ideas for the sermon. The Text is Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else,Jesus told this parable: 10 ”Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a...
April 2011
10 posts
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“Writer Thomas Merton points out that “no one saw the Resurrection. Everyone saw...”
– Phillip Yancey in Christianity Today. (via drewtriesagain)
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“On earth the church is on a mission, and Christians see themselves as a people...”
– Mercy Oduyoye. Taken from “New Eyes for Reading: Biblical and Theological Reflections by Women from the Third World.”
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“The Church on earth is by its very nature missionary since, according to the...”
– “Ad Gentes.” Vatican II
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“What is the object on which the heart of the Saviour is set? For what purpose...”
– Adoniram Judson on the Missio Dei
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Worship Planning
Today in chapel at Asbury Seminary, President Timothy Tennent said “every small act of ministry is the whole Gospel in seed form.” This statement echoed in my head and put one more piece in the puzzle of worship design and implementation. What i am coming up with is that every act in our worship has the capacity to carry the whole Gospel in its meaning. Let me explain:
I was part of...
March 2011
10 posts
3 tags
Book Review: Where There was No Church.
To catch a glimpse into the earthiness of what God is “up to” in the Muslim world can often be a rare event. Thus, when I run into a book solely dedicated to that purpose, much of my response comes from the place of awe at what God is doing and thankfulness that I can, as a reader, participate in a small piece of the story. Where There was No Church edited by EJ Martin places the...
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Agree or disagree?
“Those also can obtain to everlasting salvation who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.” Lumen Gentium 16 from Vatican II
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Mission and Lent Pt. 2
My mentor Robert Tuttle has said over and over to me that “90% of ministry is showing up and paying attention.” It has taken me almost 4 years to scratch the surface of that statement. I think the reason it has taken me so long to “get” that statement is becasue secretly I believe 90% of ministry is what I can bring to the table. So often I allow my passion for ministry and reaching people to...
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“The Eucharist is always the End, the sacrament of the parousia and yet it is...”
– Alexander Schmemann
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Mission and Lent
As we embark on Lent I am reminded how the seasons of the Christian Year (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost) shape and form the Christian in the mission of God. In the season of Advent we anticipate God becoming flesh and revel in His glorious appearing and subsequent revealing to the whole world in Epiphany. These seasons give the church hope for the future and memory of...
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“Why should I embrace the other? The answer is simple: because the others are...”
– Miroslav Volf
“There is something deeply wrong when Christians imagine that loyalty to Jesus...”
– Lesslie Newbigin
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February 2011
2 posts
8 tags
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by...”
– The Church in the World. Excerpts from “Letters to Diognetus.”
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“Mission means the proclamation and manifestation of Jesus’ all-embracing...”
– David Bosch