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I was sitting in a middle school classroom today and noticed a poster on the wall. It said, in a highly decorative way, “Integrity: Hold On To Your Beliefs!”

Public and private schools are full of this sort of thing these days. There are catalogs of this kind of rhetoric for schools, touting various values like integrity, respect, hard work, tolerance, excellence and so forth. They look nice.

While being commendable, I’m not so sure how some of them fit in with being a follower of Jesus.

“Integrity: Hold On To Your Beliefs,” for example seems to carry some presuppositions. Continue Reading »

Jason Boyett is an outstanding author of helpful, practical, humorous books, several of which have been published by Relevant books. He’s a regular writer at Relevant Magazine, a guest blogger at the BHT and a friend of this web site. He’s got a great deal for those of you who could use his well-written, informative and very fun to read Pocket Guide To The Bible. Really, if you have a youth group or young adult group doing intro to the Bible type stuff, take a look at this. It’s great counterpoint to the overly academic, bore-you-to-tears approach.

Here’s Jason: Continue Reading »

The other day, when I was having a rough time figuring out what was going on in my life, my phone rang.

It was my friend Keith. I love Keith. He’s an amazing gift to me. We’re very much alike. He’s a divorced dad getting his life back together after some painful, addictive, humiliating detours. He’s been an incredible asset to our ministry in the classroom, but he’s been a friend to me that I deeply needed, and at just the right time. Continue Reading »

Sabbatical begins a week from tomorrow. Here are some of my goals. (Goals will vary from week to week depending on where I am. Some weeks- like my week at Wheaton- most of my time is scheduled.)

1. Prayer from Celebrating Common Prayer in the morning and the evening.
2. Extended Scripture reading with meditation and notes, probably on Matthew.
3. Reading on my reading list (Jesus books mostly.)
4. Daily Exercise
5. Discipline my eating regiment at breakfast and lunch.
6. Reading poetry each day: Dante, Charles Wright, Wendell Berry. Continue Reading »

Two questions that are crucial to anyone studying and teaching scripture in a Jesus-shaped, Jesus centered way:

What would I have thought if I were there when Jesus taught, did miracles, engaged in conversations, meals, etc.?

What do the same events and words mean now that I have the entire Bible to bring all of scripture to bear on the same words and events? Continue Reading »

Sabbatical begins in 9 days. I’ll be spending May 19-23 in Louisville (and some more time later in the summer.)

I know most of Louisville pretty well, but I’m always looking for something new and different to do.

Do you know of anything unusual in Louisville I should check out? Coffee shops (with or without wireless)? Good eateries (not too expensive)? Used book stores? Churches with worship during the weekdays? Interesting places? Shops? Libraries? Local baseball games? (The Bats aren’t in town.)

I’ll be staying at Southern Seminary, and I’m open for any breakfast/lunch suggestions. I plan to work in the mornings and early afternoon, then kick back a bit. I have plans most evenings.

Experts on Louisville, speak up!

Here’s my latest interview on Steve Brown, Etc. I really enjoyed doing the program. Thanks to Steve and Eric for the opportunity to talk about a very difficult issue.

You can subscribe to SBE (and several other Steve Brown projects) at iTunes.

I’m no longer on The Catholic Guy program, btw. Gotta update that bio.

Who is the most Christlike person you know?

I live and work in a Christian community with approximately 150 other staff members who serve in our ministry. We live close together and see each other almost every day. Even with occasional breaks and vacations, we still spend far more time together than the Christians in the average church. As a result, we observe one another’s lives closely.

In the 16 years I’ve lived in this community, I’ve known some incredibly “Jesus shaped” people. They worked and ministered in the kindness and compassion of Jesus with only modest compensation. They’ve continued to serve through illness, loss, suffering, rejection and difficulty. Some have gone the extra mile so many times that it’s not unusual to do so. Some have given generously in ways that weren’t required or expected.

In my mind, I have known some incredibly Christ-like people in my time ministering here. Of course, that sentence assumes that I know what Jesus Christ was like. In that regard, I’m pretty typical. Continue Reading »

Podcast 41 A letter from a Muslim student.

The podcast website is Coffee Cup Apologetics.

All the episodes of Coffee Cup Apologetics are now on iTunes. Go to iTunes and search for “Apologetics.”

 

 Coffee Cup Apologetics 41 [16:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (116)

Mark 3:20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”….Mark 3:31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers* are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Most Christians aren’t like Jesus.

Should we even try to be? Isn’t that impossible?

None of us can be like Jesus perfectly, but the Gospel of the Kingdom calls Jesus’ disciples to hear his call and set the goal and direction of their lives to be like him. For a follower of Jesus, Paul’s words of “follow me as I follow Christ,” are translated simply, “follow Christ in every way possible.” Continue Reading »

Podcast 40 Is Richard Dawkins the best atheism can do? (A review of “The God Delusion Debate” DVD.)

It’s time for audience participation.

At the school where I work, we have two weekend worship gatherings. These used to be led by a local church, and so we called them “church.” We have daily “chapel” in the same worship space.

These two worship gatherings need a cool, hip, emerging name. Like “Element.”

Gathering #1 is 9:15 a.m. Traditional worship with very light liturgy. Structured, and the kids are usually pretty quiet. 2-3 familiar songs alternating piano and guitar every other week. Will have some creative ministries stuff next year. Have a preaching team of 4 men, followed by small groups. We do basic topical/catechetical teaching. Cover Ten Commandments, Apostle’s Creed, Lord’s Prayer, various short Biblical series.

Gathering #2 is 7:00 p.m. Contemporary band that really kicks. Two of us preaching evangelisitically and in rotation. Very informal and active service. Kids love it.

We are a boarding school for grades 6-12. The gatherings are for the students, but some adults and visitors do attend.

OK. I need some name suggestions. Help me out. I’m thinking logos and t-shirts here.

By the way…”Law” and “Gospel” won’t be considered.

Expect to see a lot of posts in this category.

(ESV) Philippians 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…

(The Message) Philippians 3: 8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ 9 and be embraced by him.

Christians are supposed to be like Jesus. They’re not.

Everyone knows Christians are supposed to be like Jesus. Not “like Jesus enough to be saved without him,” but “like Jesus because you’re following Jesus.” Of course, everyone also knows the vast majority of Christians aren’t like Jesus, or even making any real efforts in that direction. Continue Reading »

NOTE: This is a guest post. It’s not by me.

Boar’s Head Tavern fellow “Fr. Spike” solves those stressful denominational worries.

“I think I’m giving up on finding that one perfect place that will be able to satisfy my superior tastes in churches, so I plan to use my contrariness to establish a stable cycle, which is pretty much the next best thing. Continue Reading »

Jesus Shaped Spirituality 1.

May 4, 2008. (An audience of high schoolers from all over the world, many not Christians.)

 

 Jesus Shaped Spirituality 1 [41:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (231)