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Category Archives: Theology
Faith: Active and Passive Voices
If you’ll forgive the grammatical terms, I’ve been living lately in the tension between faith lived in the passive voice and expressed in the active voice. Everywhere I turn, whether in my prayer life, the life of service, my preaching, … Continue reading
Posted in Theology
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John of the Cross and the Importance of Appetite
I read this passage from The Ascent of Mount Carmel by John of the Cross this morning: The ignorance of some is extremely lamentable; they burden themselves with extraordinary penances and many other exercises, thinking these are sufficient to attain union … Continue reading
Weariness and the Pursuit of Stuff
In my reading this morning from John of the Cross, I can’t help but be taken aback by his strict denunciation of all human appetites. For John, the appetites necessarily detract from our pursuit of God, and so God works … Continue reading
Posted in John of the Cross, Spirituality
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Kingdom Come: A Sermon about Matthew’s Genealogy
He was the “Son of God”, the “bringer of Good News”, the Lord, the Savior, the one who would restore order and justice to the earth—at least that was Rome’s official story about Caesar. History also seems to look favorably … Continue reading
Posted in Bible Study, Discipleship, Matthew, Mission, Narrative Theology, New Testament, Power, Story
Tagged genealogy, matthew
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The Story (As Told by Steven, at This Moment, in This Place)
I’ve been thinking a good bit lately about the nature of scripture, and particularly the grand narrative of the biblical text. There are a lot of synopses of the story, but I’ve been tinkering with my own, a task that … Continue reading
Naming the Elephant: Worldview as Concept by James Sire
Lately I’ve been writing and thinking about how reading the Bible works as a formative practice, and it’s led me to think about the concept of worldview. I found James Sire’s Naming the Elephant helpful in thinking about the concept, … Continue reading
Reversal—A Sermon on Hosea 2
Hosea the prophet lives in a time of false security, when his nation manipulates politics to acquire a sense of independent security, and manipulates religion in an attempt to acquire economic stability. Their political/military life and their worship both lead … Continue reading
Posted in Eschatology, Hosea, Old Testament, Preaching, Sermon Manuscript
Tagged hope, hosea, repentance
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Shepherds and the Story—A Sermon about Elders
I’ve been thinking about how our understanding of elders and their roles as shepherds relates to the big picture, the story the church has been brought into by Jesus. With elders, as with many other parts of church life, it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Ecclesiology, leadership, Ministry, Practical Theology, Story, Theology
Tagged elders, narrative theology, shepherds, story
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Elders Part 2: Making Decisions about Making Decisions
Most of the time, when men become elders, they have very little idea of what things are going to be like. What should they expect in meetings? What’s expected from them outside of the meeting room? What kinds of questions are … Continue reading
Posted in Community, Ecclesiology, leadership, Practical Theology
Tagged church, ecclesiology, elders, elderships, leadership, meetings, shepherds
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Mentalities for a Church Engaging the Community
In part one of this series, I talked about how complicated it can be to develop a particular set of mentalities within the church. That’s not all that helpful without some concrete examples of what we mean by mentalities. The … Continue reading
Posted in Church, Community Engagement, Ecclesiology, justice, leadership
Tagged Community Engagement, mentalities, outreach
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