This us one of my favorite times of the year as the baseball playoffs are in full swing. But perhaps the most compelling story coming out of this year’s playoffs has nothing to do with who’s going to win the World Series, but rather who will not…again. This coming Tuesday is a significant centennial anniversary. …
Rejoice in the Cubs Always – Philippians 4:1-9 Continue Reading »
I’ve been having some weird dreams lately. I go through periods like this where I’ll have some bizarre dream—not a nightmare, but more like a thought-provoking head-scratcher of a dream. When I’m under stress, for example, I’ll usually have a consistent dream theme that I’m back in the military, but in the dream I’m always …
As part of the Doctor of Ministry program, I had the chance to travel to Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago for their leadership conference. Willow Creek is one of the poster children of the megachurch movement that brought terms like “seeker sensitive” and “unchurched” into the ecclesiastical vernacular. They average about 21,000 in attendance …
The Honor of Humility – Philippians 2:1-13 Continue Reading »
The economy has dominated the news this week with some major banking institutions tanking and the government engineering a bailout that will cost taxpayers “hundreds of billions” of dollars. I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking forward to getting my next IRA statement in the mail to find out how much is long …
I like football as much as the next guy, but I have become a little jaded about the way things happen in the NFL. It's become such a product that the game itself is often overshadowed. Players are coaches are larger than life and are often not held accountable for their actions, claiming that they …
For those of you who are jumping into Facebook, I've set up my TypePad blog to display the most recent posts on my Facebook profile. Hope to see you there!
So, I finally got an iPod–a pretty nice one that manages a whole bunch of stuff other than music. I've had to go back to an electronic calendar with the long range scheduling that I have to do for my doctoral program and the iPod Touch fits the bill nicely, interfacing seamlessly with my MacBook …
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re in the midst of an election year and, this time around, one that’s especially charged with ideas. The direction of our country is the central issue and when that’s the case everybody has an opinion. Now, it’s often been said that you should never talk about politics …
I've been doing some preliminary reading for my dissertation and picked up this book by Tyler Wigg Stevenson that really has my wheels turning. It's all about "Christianity in a Consumerist Age"–interesting stuff. Stevenson's basic premise is that our identity is driven by what we buy, not by an overarching narrative story that orders our …
OK, to begin with, I'm no scientist. It wasn't one of my best subjects in high school or college. I distinctly remember a lab test in "Earth Science" where there were 26 black rocks in a box and we were supposed to identify them all. After "anthracite" and "bitumunus" coal, I was pretty much out …
The Big Bang: Coming Soon to an Apocalypse Near You Continue Reading »
OK, so I finally get this whole "social networking" thing and got a Facebook account. It's amazing who you come across and who finds you. I've made "friends" with some folks I went to seminary with, college, former churches, lots cool people from the past and present. Check out Facebook if you haven't already and, …
Today is Jennifer's birthday and our family tradition is to eat out at an establishment of the birthday boy/girl's choice. It's especially nice when it's Jennifer or me who have the birthday because it's the one time we can go to a restaurant that doesn't serve chicken nuggets or strips or pulverized pieces. Jennifer chose …
Note: This sermon is adapted from one I wrote for the July/August issue of Homiletics. Click here to learn more or to subscribe to Homiletics. College football season started this weekend and the pros kick off next week, so it’s that time of year when fans of all types begin to wonder how their team …
Fourth and One – Sermon for August 31, 2008 Continue Reading »
Looks like fun, eh? That's Chris and me "mugging" for the camera during an official photo shoot that the Seminary is going to use to promote the Beeson program. We're thinking this particular one (shot and copyrighted by Gabriel Tate) won't make it in Christianity Today…but one never knows. Well, it has been fun and …
Spent today getting ahead on some of my writing, so I've got a little time to introduce you to the rest of the class. Clockwise to my right are: Steve Dunmire – Wesleyan pastor from near Buffalo, New York. We share an interest in hockey and he was impressed that I knew the proper way …