The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Greg Peters

  • Scott Bessenecker on Leadership

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    Greg Peters
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    I just finished reading Scott Bessenecker’s new book How to Inherit the Earth: Submitting Ourselves to a Servant Savior (InterVarsity Press, 2009). Overall it was a good book, easy to read and understand. According to Bessenecker, most leaders in today’s church have bought into the “MONOPOLY” mindset of leadership. Simply put that means most leaders…

  • Epiphany (T.S. Eliot on the Magi)

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    Greg Peters
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    A wonderful poem to ponder today on Epiphany: The Journey of the Magi “A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The was deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.” And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down…

  • A Christmas Meditation (for Pastors)

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    Greg Peters
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    At Morning Prayer on Christmas Eve, at least in my daily lectionary, the New Testament reading is Philippians 2:5-11: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking…

  • Bringing One Another Along – A Wedding Homily for Jane and Alex Elmore

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    Greg Peters
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    This wedding homily was delivered at St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Oceanside, CA on June 26, 2009. Jane and Alex were students of mine in the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University and I had the privilege of performing, along with Jane’s father, their wedding this summer. A beautiful day with a wonderful couple. Jane…

  • Faculty Wise Words

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    Greg Peters
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    I wrote the following last month for Biola University’s weekly newspaper The Chimes. Perhaps it has something to say to readers of Scriptorium as well: Anyone who knows me knows that I like monks. Actually, I really like monks. I know a few monks (and nuns) personally and I like them as people but that’s…

  • Words, Words, Words: A Homily for Katherine and Peter van Elswyk

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    Greg Peters
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    I write this while sitting in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, waiting for my flight back to Los Angeles after officiating at the wedding of and celebrating with Kat and Peter van Elswyk. What a great day, graced by an unseasonably early dusting of Minnesota snow. Having known Kat and Peter for just over four years,…

  • Year of the Priest or (for Evangelicals) Year of the Pastor

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    Greg Peters
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    I’m no Roman Catholic but I can certainly appreciate many of the things that come out of the Vatican. So much so, in fact, that I subscribe to the daily e-mail update from the Vatican Information Service. Nothing like knowing what Benedict XVI is up to each day! More importantly, I find out about events…

  • Wanted: Humility

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    Greg Peters
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    Well, another school year is starting here at the Torrey Honors Institute, which means there are about 375 students roaming the halls again. It’s good to see the returning students, hear what they did over the summer (if anything!) and start getting to know the freshmen. Already in only three days of classes, I have…

  • Helpful New Series from InterVarsity Press

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    Greg Peters
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    For those familiar with the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS), you’ll know how helpful of a tool it can be when studying a passage of Scripture. The good news is that the publisher of the ACCS, InterVarsity Press, has recently launched two new series: Ancient Christian Doctrine and Ancient Christian Texts. The former will…

  • Fundamentalism

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    Greg Peters
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    “Fundamentalism” is a bad word in most circles and, perhaps, rightly so. No one minds being called “orthodox” or even “conservative” but being called a “fundamentalist” is like having the neighborhood bully call you names while you walk home from school. It’s derogatory and, most often, demeaning. Of course, some own up to the title…

  • Tantalus and the Pelican

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    Greg Peters
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    I just finished reading Nicholas Buxton’s Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today. It is definitely a very interesting book. A mix between theology, biography and history, the book is mostly dedicated to an examination of themes from early Christian (and occasionally Buddhist) monasticism applied by the author to his own reflections on the…

  • To the Johnson House Class of 2009, Thanks

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    Greg Peters
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    Four years ago this fall the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University implemented a curriculum of the great literary classics that was thematic in its approach as opposed to being a chronological reading of the texts. My job as professor in Torrey was the result of the creation of this new “house,” named after the…