I am spending a large chunk of today in Stephen Fowl’s Engaging Scripture: a Model for Theological Interpretation. He is proposing a new method of interpreting scripture. He suggests that scripture can only be interpreted through the life, practices, and worship of God’s people. While his arguments are fairly complex, he nails an important point [...]

We are studying the healing of the blind man in John 9 this week. I reflected a bit on the church blog here. But as I consider this story, I find tremendous implications for discernment. The main point of the story is not the healing of the blind man. We read this story and celebrate [...]

I have been reading Charles Cosgrove’s chapter in Cross-Cultural Paul: Journeys To Others, Journeys To Ourselves on American Individualism. This is a fascinating chapter full of profound observations about how our culture impacts the way in which we view Christianity, church, and living in community. Cosgrove outlines our (American) values and how they stack up [...]

The more I preach, the more I realize how the context of our life impacts our reading of scripture. We certainly don’t want our life situations to rule the text. Yet it seems the Spirit uses the books we read, the people we encounter, the challenges of daily life to inform our reading of scripture. [...]

The Spirit has been prompting us to explore our wedding policy. We have a beautiful building; many people want to get married at First Baptist. Recent inquiries have caused us to reconsider our policies. If you read them, you would find little variation from a country club contract. Preferential treatment was given to members while [...]

It has been a while since making a post on this site. I have been neck deep in preparing my thesis proposal. I almost have it wrapped up. I am eager to get back into blogging. This is a post specifying a commitment to post at least once per week. This blog is not designed [...]

A week ago, we concluded our sermon series on the book of Acts. I asked two people in our church to share about what the series had meant to them. One was an older gentleman who has been a Christian for years. The other was a young woman who has only been a Christian for [...]

Discerning is a continual process. Once we think we have it nailed, God reveals something new. We are sometimes discouraged, not sure where God is leading. Yet, this is the nature of relationship. It is impossible to relate to someone if there is no interaction. The stifling of our relationship with God often begins with [...]