Radical Doxology

The third lecture in a series given by Walter Brueggemann in a Canadian Anglican church is entitled “New Orientation: Faith as Gift and as Impossibility.” This lecture concludes Brueggemann’s presentation of the Psalms from the perspective of Orientation, Disorientation, and New Orientation. He ends his lecture series with this definition… Continue reading

Paul and the Gospel, Part Three

The royal proclamation is not simply the conveying of true information about the kingship of Jesus. It is the putting into effect of that kingship, the decisive and authoritative summoning to allegiance. Paul discovered, at the heart of his missionary practice, that when he announced the lordship of Jesus Christ,… Continue reading

James 2:1-17 “Clubhouse Rules and Counterfeit Faith”

Faith is all about the basic trust of our lives and what we depend on for our identity and security. James says faith that is only objective belief or sentimental emotion is thoroughly counterfeit. If faith were just a matter of proper belief, then the demons who know God is One (the cardinal doctrine of Judaism and Christianity) would be on the front rows in heaven. And if faith were a matter of sentimental emotion, those with an overactive hypothalamus would be singing in the celestial choirs of the angels with big crocodile tears streaming down their faces. Genuine, 24K faith is a trust that takes concrete form in the way we live our lives. Only such faith is saving. Continue reading

John 20:1-10 “When Loving is Believing”

Read the Scripture One of the great mysteries in the New Testament is the identity of the beloved disciple in John’s Gospel. His first appearance in the Gospel occurs in chapter 13 at the Last Supper. In Jesus’ day, Jews reclined while eating their special meals. During the Last Supper,… Continue reading

Romans 8 12-17 “Scared to Death”

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by… Continue reading

Psalm 23 “The Lord is My Shepherd” (Part Two)

1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; 2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of… Continue reading

Psalm 23, Matthew 6:24-33 “The Lord is My Shepherd” (Part One)

Read the Scripture Passages As a child, when I heard the word “lint” (pronounced the same as the word “Lent”), I thought of those little specks of whatever people would get on their clothes. I remember every Sunday morning my father using the lint brush to brush off specks on… Continue reading

What Keeps Us from Wonder? Part One

Wonder is the reason we seek to know any reality whatsoever. (Nicholas of Cusa) Nicholas of Cusa (1400-1464 CE) was a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church who served in Greece. Because of the prominence of the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church in that part of the world, Nicholas was in… Continue reading