From Anatevka With Love (When Tradition Trumps Jesus)
“Tradition. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as…as a fiddler on the roof!”
Church Life
The Faith That Saves (Part 2)
(Re)read Part 1. Imagine walking on railroad tracks with a friend. You see a faint light growing larger and conclude a train barrels toward you. You and your friend begin to argue about what sort of train it is. You’re sure it’s a coal train from Pittsburgh. Your friend insists its a passenger train from Chicago. You argue your experiences with trains makes you a better trainspotter. He argues he has read everything about […]
The Faith That Saves (Part 1)
Calvinists and nonCalvinists have fought about the origin of saving faith for centuries. Calvinists insist God grants saving faith to the elect at the moment of conversion. NonCalvinists insist God has granted everyone the ability to believe the gospel and must be rightly persuaded. No one has any ability or everyone has some ability. Important distinctions, to be sure. But have we missed the forest for the trees? While we skirmish on the periphery the enemy […]
Hold Your Heterosexuality Loosely
“But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of […]
Relax, Your Church is a Mess (For Now)
If you are a Christian then you love the church because you love what Jesus loves. Jesus died for her (Eph 5.2, 25) and it is Christian to love those for whom Jesus died. But Christ’s bride is one messed-up group of people because you and I are messed-up folk. Jesus did not give himself up for the church because of who she was. He died for her because of who […]
Toppling the Social Media Baals
Like the God who made us, we humans are incessant communicators. We will use anything to talk to each other: scratches on a cave wall, reeds dipped in plant dye, Dixie cups and a long string, mechanical arms stamping letters on paper, or digital pixels bouncing off satellites into mobile devices for social media. God communicates so naturally his image-bearers would do so. Social media is not inherently evil any more than the […]
Time to be Hated, but Never Hateful
“So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Heb 13.13-14). We Memphians sit on the edge of the notorious New Madrid fault. It’s been relatively quiet since 1811-12 but there are regular tremors in the seismic zone. Geologists warn us about The Big One which portends […]
Ashes to Ashes: Dying on the Cheap (Part 3)
Along with parts 1 and 2, I offer five reasons why I’d rather be buried than cremated unless otherwise providentially hindered. While not imposing my convictions on anyone else, I do hope my wife will remember them at them at the funeral home! 4. Jesus was buried and I want be like Jesus. This isn’t the same thing as saying Jesus wore sandals so I wear sandals, or Jesus grew […]
Ashes to Ashes: Dying on the Cheap (Part 2)
Read Part 1 to catch up but here are two more reasons why I intend to be buried rather than cremated unless providentially hindered. Cremation is no cardinal sin but we should allow Scripture to define how we live and die. 2. In Scripture, the burning of the body was an expression of disgrace toward the person who died. Though not without possible exception (see 1 Sam 31.12), the burning […]
Death by Analytics (Why Stats Choke the Life Out of Your Church)
“but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh” (Gal 6.13). Baseball has its BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Basketball has its PER (player efficiency rating). Football has its AYPA (adjusted yards per attempt). “Analytics” has taken professional sports by storm. Calculus before coaching. Algorithms over experience. Xs-and-Os on a clipboard only arrange 3-D mathematics. Losses once explained by how a fickle […]