First, a theological point – Second, an exercise in an applied theological reading of a Psalm. The Christian God is a God who acts (see book by the same title, ‘A God Who Acts: Recognizing the Hand of God in Suffering and Failure‘, by Harry Blamires).  God acts both creatively and redemptively.  All.  The.  Time.

I’ve got an iPhone and an Apple mini-mac.  Have you ever unwrapped a new, glistening, dripping-with-hotness Apple product? But I’ve been worried by what I’m hearing about them (see Caleb’s recent post).  I’ve heard that the casing for the new iPads already have a space ready for rear-facing cameras in the slightly-higher-retail-priced models to be put before our lusting eyes [...]

In chapter 10 of his gospel (or not far into the Jerusalem journey narrative as he would have seen it – he didn’t divide his gospel into ‘chapter and verse’), Luke presents an exchange between an expert in the Law (of Moses – i.e. Torah) and Jesus.  The lawyer is first trying to ‘test’ Jesus, and uses a fairly standard [...]

God is a God who commands and orders justice, and justice is a form of order. God’s order is good. The Creator God of Scripture takes the earth from being ‘tohu’ and ‘vohu’ (wild & waste – formless & void) to being more and more ordered.  And places humans at the crest of the wave of creation – investing them [...]

One might try to make a case against things like ‘Lent’ based on Luke 5:33-35. In this passage, Jesus is questioned why his followers don’t fast and pray like the disciples of John and of the Pharisees.  Jesus responds with another question: Can you make the friends of the bridegroom (the ole KJV puts it better – “the children of [...]

Rob Bell (with Don Golden). Has written another book. Just as trendy… as the first two…. With many one-line (and sometimes one word) paragraphs. And with end-notes… rather than footnotes.¹ Oh. Joy. But seriously, not only was this book (hereafter refered to in trendy acronym style as JWTSC) an easy read, I’d have to say it is Rob’s most ‘biblical’ [...]

I’m well aware that the current economic situation is one fraught with complexity and detail.  It’s not a simple problem with a simple solution. But I can’t help but feel nervous about these massive ‘economic stimulus’ packages.  The mixture of strong insistence by leaders and hesitant cautiousness by would-be supporters is uneasy to say the least. I truly understand the [...]