I’m very happy to be part of the blog tour for Daniel Kirk’s new book, Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?  Here’s the tour’s home page.  I’m discussing the book’s second chapter, called, “New Creation and the Kingdom of God.” Daniel’s burden in this book is to demonstrate the organic connection between Jesus and Paul.  […]

This is a serious question.  Why is forgiveness such a difficult thing to carry out and why is it such a struggle to abide in it? I remember as a young person reading Jesus’ words and thinking about how outrageous they were, to the point of being silly.  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, […]

The Broncos’ improbable run continues, after their dramatic win last night (sorry to my good friends who are Steelers fans), and so do the stories and comments on Tim Tebow. Jon Meacham wrote in this week’s Time magazine about Tebow’s evangelical identity. Check out this comparison of Tebow and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger in The Washington […]

Our Father in heaven, you guided the wise men to the worship of your Son by the light of a star.  Give us light, give us life, and draw us ever closer to you by the light of faith.  Enlighten and enliven our hearts to search after you just as they did.  Give us the […]

I’ve mentioned before that I occasionally opened our Midtown services with a welcome that reminded us of our identity as God’s gathered people.  Here’s one for the Epiphany season: Welcome to Midtown Christian Community. Today is called “Epiphany,” a term that means “to show” or “to make known” or even “to reveal.” In Western churches, this day […]

Because of the way Paul’s letters have been received over the last two millennia, and because the church at times has used his writings to justify violence, oppression, and exploitation, there are many good people who don’t like him. Other folks believe Paul’s gospel differs from that of Jesus.  Jesus preached discipleship in the kingdom of […]

Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together, gave an interesting talk yesterday at Calvin College.  She has studied the psychology of technology for over three decades and has traced the rise and impact of the personal computer, the internet, cell-phones, and smart phones.  She is especially interested in how these technologies shape our humanity, including our […]

This will be the final post in which I consider well-known Christians—especially athletes—using their well-knownness as a “platform” to speak about Christian faith. For evangelical Christians raised on the song, “Be a Missionary Every Day,” and who’ve been exhorted to use every opportunity to testify about Christian faith, Mark’s “Messianic Secret” comes as quite a […]

I’ve been considering well-known Christians—especially athletes—using their well-knownness as a “platform” to speak about Christian faith. Some claim that Christians should never waste opportunities to speak in some way about faith in Christ, conversion, sin and salvation. I’ve given several reasons why I think this isn’t necessarily a wise or good thing to do.  I’ll […]

I’ve given a few reasons why I do not think Christian athletes should use their well-knownness as a “platform” to speak about Christian faith. I think that well-known athletes ought to embody Christian faithfulness by participating in their sport in redeemed ways. First and foremost, they ought to be serious about having fun.  They should […]