Category: Misc.

This morning I stopped at Starbucks to get a cup of “survival juice.” I had a class to teach, and I need the pick-me-up. If you have ever purchased a cup of coffee at Starbucks you have noticed that for the last few years Starbucks has printed on the sides of their cups thoughts and…

John Teter’s 2003 book Get the Word Out: How God Shapes and Sends His Witnesses is a great little introduction to evangelism. Teter is obviously very (veryvery) passionate, but he writes with a disarming breeziness. He develops his ideas through stories and personal illustrations, so by the time you’re done with the book (an easy…

As Christians we often feel like God should take care of all of our immediate needs—immediately. I often find myself praying for a quick fix to my little problems. I easily find myself frustrated with the difficulties that are a part of living on this mortal plane. I have been reading the book of Job…

For Lent this year, I have decided to give up the liturgical calendar. It’s a big sacrifice, but I think I will learn a lot from this voluntary abstention. Could somebody please e-mail me when it’s time to start up again? That would be a big help.

CS Lewis believed in what is called the “correspondence theory of truth.” It is not clear that he would have called it that, but it was obvious from the way that he wrote and spoke that he believed in and was devoted to the truth. The correspondence theory of truth holds that truth is an…

Since at least the time of Nietzsche, a major objection to Christian faith has been that it is bad for the human spirit generally, and the imagination in particular. It produces people with tiny souls, content to monger prooftexts, take everything on authority, stay on the surface of life, and investigate nothing. Pat answers satisfy…

In the latest issue of in The Wesleyan Theological Journal, Wesleyan theologian Don Thorsen carries out a nice little exploration of biblical authority and theological method. The article, “Sola Scriptura and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral” (WTJ 41:2 (Fall 2006), pp. 7-27), clears up a lot of confusion. Both Sola Scriptura and the Quadrilateral are widely misconstrued,…

“There are souls too in the world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere, and of leaving it behind them when they go. Joy gushes from under their fingers like jets of light. There is something in their very presence, in their mere silent company, from which joy cannot be extricated and laid aside.…

When I was in my doctoral program I asked a room full of eager, successful and intelligent graduate students if they would like to relive their junior high days—no one raised their hand. We all remember, whether we were popular or not, the hurt that we endured when we were mocked and bullied—no one was…

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, I have been invited to attend a “Superbowl Party” this coming Sunday afternoon. Although the invitation was rather circumspect regarding details, I am given to understand that the event being celebrated involves a televised competition between two sports collectives, possibly from different countries, or perhaps different regions of the same country. Although…

Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006) wrote a book in 1959 called The Riddle of Roman Catholicism (Abingdon: 1959). While parts of it are dated, it’s also a wise and patient Lutheran interaction with the phenomenon that is the Roman Catholic Church. In chapter 16, “The Challenge of Roman Catholicism,” Pelikan muses about what American Protestantism can learn…

In the year 381, the second ecumenical council (also known as the First Council of Constantinople, or Constantinople I, to distinguish it from two later councils in the same city), met to make decisions on Christian doctrine and order. The main thing the fathers of the first Council of Constantinople would want us to say…