Rudolf Bultmann, a 20th-century German theologian, utilized the Lutheran phrase “Become what thou art” (German: Werde, was du bist) to express a form of Pauline ethics. But first... I have enjoyed teaching New Testament Theology this last week. Even though I was feeling sick that week, I did not feel sick while I was teaching.. …
Month: January 2017
The Problem of Forgiveness
Why should we forgive? In our counseling center, I have had so many tell me, we should forgive because God tells us we MUST. You might think that is enough. But it really isn't, because when we are given a rule that we don't like we look to how close we can get to the …
Five Dangers of Neglecting Exegesis in the Field
I was looking over my notes from a "Biblical Theology-NT" class I took something like 13 years ago, taught by Dr. Kevin Daugherty. I will be teaching this same course at a different school as a 1-week module. In my notes there was several reasons why it is dangerous to neglect exegesis, or at least …
Continue reading Five Dangers of Neglecting Exegesis in the Field
Choosing our Words Carefully in Ministry
I watched a TED talk, as well as the 2016 movie "Arrival" recently. Both of them had a somewhat similar theme... that the way we think is guided strongly by the language and labels we use. TED talk, Keith Chen's "Could Your Language Affect the Way You Save Money," noted a strange correlation between health …
Lilliput and Blefuscu— Lessons for Us on Religious Conflict
Lilliput and Blefuscu were two neighboring peoples in the book "Gulliver's Travels." The book was written by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). In the story, the two empires share much in common, including a common history, a common vernacular language, a common racial identity (at least in comparison to other peoples of the world), and a common …
Continue reading Lilliput and Blefuscu— Lessons for Us on Religious Conflict
Shouldn’t Church Be A Safe Place for Unsafe Conversations?
I was watching a TED Talk of Bob Mankoff, the Cartoon ("Idea Drawings") Editor at The New Yorker. He was talking about the anatomy of a humor cartoon... and humor in general. It was both fun and informative (You can click on it HERE). He described effective humor in terms of Tension or Conflict. One …
Continue reading Shouldn’t Church Be A Safe Place for Unsafe Conversations?
Pastoral Recovery- Knowing What’s Good For You…
I deal with a lot of missionaries and pastors who are suffering with burnout, with traumatization, with moral failure, with relationship break-down. There can be many reasons for this. Within classic 'Biblical Counseling' the answers tend to be along the line of: "You need to 'get right' with God" "You need to confess and repent" …
Continue reading Pastoral Recovery- Knowing What’s Good For You…
Missions, Government, and Motives
Historically speaking, Missions has often been thought of as being linked to the government. Some look back at the "Great Century" of missions as missionaries serving as pawns, or partners, of colonizers. But it goes back further. St. Boniface served as a missionary with an authorizing letter from the king of the Franks. But the …
The Trinity– I Love a Mystery
I don't know Greek. In fact it is appalling the depths of my ignorance of Koine Greek. I took the minimum amount of the language I needed to get my degree. Frankly, none of my jobs over the decades (US Navy, mechanical engineer, missionary) required much depth in Greek. I enjoy reading some of the …