Note from CM: One blog I enjoy and learn from regularly is P.OST, Andrew Perriman’s site about “Evangelical theology for the age to come.” Andrew has combined theological studies and writing with pastoral and missional work in a wide range of contexts around the world. I find his writing extraordinarily stimulating. One good place to start to [...]
Time? or Timing?
22 Feb by
One common area of cultural misunderstanding involves the perception of time. Once, when we were in India, our host planned a day of sightseeing before the mission team was to present an evening program. In typical fashion, everything took much longer than anticipated and we arrived at the church over an hour and a half [...]
iMonk: The “Magic Book” Approach to the Bible
17 Feb by
From the classic Michael Spencer post, Magic Books, Grocery Lists and Silent Messiahs: How rightly approaching the Bible shapes the entire Christian Life * * * I believe most Christians use the word “inspiration” to mean “the Bible is a magic book, where God speaks to us in unusual ways.” By this they mean that [...]
Have You No Shame?
11 Feb by
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O’Brien IVP Books (2012) Part Three of a series. “In fact, the entire issue of honor and shame over against right and wrong (innocence and guilt) is a bit of a mystery to us. As [...]
There Is No “Me and Jesus” in the Bible
4 Feb by
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O’Brien IVP Books (2012) Part Two of a series. One major impediment Westerners have in reading the Bible and practicing the Christian faith is our individualistic perspective. For the Bible was written in a much [...]
A Horse of a Different Color
1 Feb by
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O’Brien IVP Books (2012) This is part one of a series of discussion-starters from this fine book. * * * “That is a good horse,” said the man as he watched it pull the farmer’s [...]
iMonk: “What Is the Bible?”
18 Jan by
From Michael Spencer’s classic post, A Conversation in God’s Kitchen * * * What is the Bible? When I was a senior in high school, I made it into an Advanced English Class taught by Mrs. Vista Morris. Mrs. Morris taught us to research, to write and to speak. Oddly, we never left her room, [...]
Counting the Commandments
18 Sep by
Those of you who have experience in various Christian traditions may have observed that there are different ways of numbering the “Ten Commandments.” This is not a mere academic issue of interpretation. It can be shown that the different schemes can lead to some significant ways of understanding and living out the faith. In my [...]
Scripture Redeems Itself
14 Sep by
One of the most provocative and helpful books I have found on the nature of the Bible and how Christians may receive it and read it is Kenton L. Sparks’ book, Sacred Word, Broken Word. I will have some future posts that reflect on his proposals, but today I want to share one wonderful passage [...]
Overcoming God’s Reluctance?
11 Sep by
Last Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 7:24-37, has to contain one of the most puzzling set of stories we have about Jesus. The first tale in particular, the account of Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman in the region of Tyre, is a doozy. Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want [...]
