I was lurking in Substack, a website I only recently began visiting. In it there was a person who was an Evangelical Christian, but has now "deconstructed" his (or her... I forget) faith and is now agnostic or atheistic. There were many responses from various people of various faith allegiances. Many of these were Evangelical …
Category: Commentary
Where Science and the Bible Can Conflict
I am going to make an argument that is pretty obvious when one thinks about it... but I am doing so for a reason. But for now, let me play "Captain Obvious." It is worthwhile to parse out a statement that people say. Some people like to say that the Bible conflicts with Science. Some …
Exploring the “Call to Ministry.” Part 3
My posts in this series are a bit... all over the place. However, I hope it makes sense when I talk about what I call my call to ministry. But before I do, I would like to talk about the third aspect of one's Call to Ministry. SELF To what extent is a call to …
Exploring the “Call to Ministry.” Part 2
I am continuing my discussion on the "Call to Ministry" where I am assuming three aspects--- God, Church, and Self. My last post I talked about the Divine (God) aspect. I will move on here. CHURCH The seminary I teach at speaks of developing Christian leaders from those who are "God Called, Church Affirmed." There …
Exploring the “Call to Ministry.” Part 1
I would like to suggest that there are (potentially) three major components to a Call to Ministry. These three are not independent of each other. Therefore, they are shown like a Venn Diagram. I would like to explore each part separately, with some acknowledgement of the interrelations that may be relevant. GOD Many would argue …
In Ministry, People are More Important than Institutions
Having served on the pastoral staff (relatively briefly) of a couple of churches, ran a Christian counseling center (for much longer), and served on the faculty of multiple seminaries, I have seen the recurring struggle over what is more important, people or institutions. When counseling one or two members of a marriage--- should one focus …
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What Makes Pastoral Care and Counseling “Pastoral”?
I am teaching an online class, "Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling" for seminary students in Sierra Leone. The students had a great question: Why call it "Pastoral Care and Counseling"? Why not simply call it "Care and Counseling"? This is a more fleshed-out version of my response to the class. "Pastoral" comes from the …
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Foreign Missionary Thoughts on Leviticus 19:33-34
<I took a break from posting to clean up my old posts. I have gone through all of my posts from the beginning in 2009 to the end of 2012. I deleted around 100, and touched up the rest.> Leviticus 19:33-34 seems to have become a popular verse recently, at least in the United States. …
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HALF in Agreement That the Sermon on the Mount is Not for Today.
I have been a bit surprised at a pattern I have seen recently, especially among American Evangelicals. I see a trend of these Christians (and I generally can be described as an American Evangelical) have with the message(s) of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7). First, though, I should note an older view …
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Gehazi the Complicated
I think most Christians would kind of like the Bible to be written more like a Charles Dickens novel. I mean that in terms of characters. Dickens wrote social commentary with numerous characters. In this sense, his novels share something with much of the Bible. A big difference is that Dickens uses pretty simple characters. …