This week I celebrated my birthday by looking at pandemic-inspired gospel-blues songs, and my October devotional series ranged from a song of Moses to a psalm of David to the Apocalypse of John. Elsewhere: • I don’t share all of the theological presuppositions that undergird John Piper’s barely veiled critique of Donald Trump, but you have … More That Was The Week That Was
I can put up with almost every other inconvenience, but not getting to sing as part of a group for the duration of COVID has been a tough pill to swallow. Whether in a choir or as part of a congregation, I love to sing the songs of the church with the people of the … More The With-God Life: The Song of Moses
Part of the power — and problem — of the psalms is that they were written in a certain context for a certain people at a certain time… but speak to, and for, other people living at other times in other contexts. Psalm 63 is described as being written by David “when he was in … More The With-God Life: “A Dry and Weary Land”
Behold, three ways I’m tempted to read and misread today’s lectionary selection from Revelation, which begins with an angel calling out: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons,a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.For all the nations have … More The With-God Life: The Fall of Babylon
This week I interviewed Jay Phelan about his new book on the history and theology of Judaism, and wrote devotional reflections about Bible books as obscure as 3rd John and Jude and as familiar as Psalms and Matthew. Elsewhere: • Over this summer of COVID, most of my socializing has been outdoors. But what will we … More That Was The Week That Was
In Matthew’s account of the death of John the Baptist, I usually skip to the end of the story. Oscar Wilde and Norma Desmond can have Salomé. I’m more interested in Jesus’ response to learning of his relative’s murder: that he went off to mourn by himself, and that his grief soon turned to compassion … More The With-God Life: “Raised From the Dead”
With the 2020 elections just over two weeks away, I’ve started to see more Christians on social media post some version of this claim: Whomever we elect president, God is still in charge. Yes, on the one hand, and amen. As today’s psalm opens: The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the … More The With-God Life: The King Who Loves Justice
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 11) I’m not sure that imitate is an especially inspiring verb in this culture. It suggests a lack of originality and creativity. In evangelical Christianity, it may suggest … More The With-God Life: Imitation
Some weeks it feels like most of what I do is deliver bad news. Well, not “news” — but old stories from the dismal past: nuclear crises and mutually assured destruction are coming up tomorrow in Cold War; on Monday morning my freshman seminar studied apocalyptic themes in post-World War I art; and this morning, the … More The With-God Life: “The Lord Was Very Angry”
“Although I value this book,” wrote Martin Luther in introducing his translation of Jude’s brief letter, “it is an epistle that need not be counted among the chief books which are supposed to lay the foundations of faith.” To this day, many Christians join the Protestant reformer in wanting to skip a book that is … More The With-God Life: Hey Jude
The Pietist Schoolman 