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scripture spiritual formation
Jun 27, 2012

Reading Scripture for the first time


It is amazing to me how much the “enlightenment” and the rise of “rational thinking” has impacted our reading of Scripture. What we call the enlightenment coming out of the dark ages had many advantages, allowing scientists, for instance to test their theories and come to grips with the real workings of our cosmos.


But it had other consequences as well. In a rational world, God does not break in...
Read more
scripture spiritual formation
Jun 27, 2012

Reading Scripture for the first time


It is amazing to me how much the “enlightenment” and the rise of “rational thinking” has impacted our reading of Scripture. What we call the enlightenment coming out of the dark ages had many advantages, allowing scientists, for instance to test their theories and come to grips with the real workings of our cosmos.


But it had other consequences as well. In a rational world, God does not break in...
Read more
critical thinking Managing the shadow side
May 14, 2012

Small shifts of truth - the Evil one's tactics

Have you ever thought about the lies that the evil one loves for us to believe? His strategy is to move the ground of truth ever so slightly but that tiny move makes all the difference in the world in reality. Think about these lies:
  • God is good most of the time. 
  • You need to earn God's favor.
  • Some of the Bible's moral commands are irrelevant in today's sophisticated world.
  • You are just an ordinary pe...
Read more
critical thinking Managing the shadow side
May 14, 2012

Small shifts of truth - the Evil one's tactics

Have you ever thought about the lies that the evil one loves for us to believe? His strategy is to move the ground of truth ever so slightly but that tiny move makes all the difference in the world in reality. Think about these lies:
  • God is good most of the time. 
  • You need to earn God's favor.
  • Some of the Bible's moral commands are irrelevant in today's sophisticated world.
  • You are just an ordinary pe...
Read more
church leadership church planting
Mar 05, 2012

Unleashing our lay people and overcoming the dysfunction of professional ministry

I believe that one of the five dysfunctions of the church is that of professional ministry where we hire specialists to do the work of ministry rather than to equip others to do ministry. This professionalism is even more interesting in that the movement I am a part of (the EFCA) and sister denominations came out of lay led movements in the eighteen hundreds.


The free church movement came out of an...
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evangelicalism preaching
Nov 05, 2011

Theologians in the pews

OK, I don't like the lay/clergy distinction but recognize it is there. However, there is a long history within the evangelical tradition of theologians in the pews, not simply in the pulpit. In fact, it was the theologians in the pews who left the state church in Europe and formed "free churches" when the theologians in the pulpits no longer held to the truth of the Scriptures. This illustrates...
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evangelicalism preaching
Nov 05, 2011

Theologians in the pews

OK, I don't like the lay/clergy distinction but recognize it is there. However, there is a long history within the evangelical tradition of theologians in the pews, not simply in the pulpit. In fact, it was the theologians in the pews who left the state church in Europe and formed "free churches" when the theologians in the pulpits no longer held to the truth of the Scriptures. This illustrates...
Read more
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