In a couple of places recently, I’ve come across this question: “Where did you come of age spiritually?” Not exactly, “When did you become a Christian?” or “What church did you grow up in?” But “Where did you come of age?” I’ve struggled mightily to answer it. My own faith journey has been so gradual … More My Churches: A Spiritual Travelogue (part 1)
There are few things I understand as little and love as much as the sacrament of Communion. That’s something I’ve realized more in the past few years, since, as a lay leader in our church, I’m regularly asked to serve Communion. (A genuinely important example of that terribly overused cliche, “servant-leadership,” I think.) Depending on … More The Mystery of Communion
Here • Two more posts on how World War I has been commemorated in western Europe, the first focused on German military cemeteries in Belgium and France and the second on memorials in two large German cities. • And for good measure, a link to an op-ed piece in the New York Times about why … More That Was The Week That Was
Yesterday ended up being an unusually frenetic Sunday in our household. My brother and sister and their families came over to celebrate our twins’ birthday. Before that, we had to clean the house in a hurry — what our mom calls a “white tornado.” Before that, there was waiting at the pharmacy to pick up … More God as Semicolon
About two years ago I was invited to give a talk to our faculty in recognition of having been awarded Bethel’s 2009 Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching. In part one of this (slightly updated) version of the talk, I described my experiences integrating podcasts into two courses and evaluated them in light of the “No … More A Different Significance: Online vs. F2F Education (part 2)
At The Pietist Schoolman I don’t tend to cry in the classroom, but here’s why a lecture on the Holocaust (and the related program of euthanasia that killed hundreds of thousands of children, youth, and adults with physical and mental disabilities) gets me every time. My planned travel course on World War I was approved, … More That Was The Week That Was
Last week I mentioned that I was preparing to preach a sermon for the first time, at Salem Covenant Church of New Brighton, MN on All Saints’ Sunday. Despite my fears, it seemed to go well yesterday, and I thought I’d post my text in case anyone who wasn’t there was interested in reading it. … More A Stretched People
Here Twenty-five hours and counting until I preach my first sermon, on Revelation 7:9-17. I piggybacked on the arguments of two much more gifted scholars: first, Roger Olson’s lament that some Christian colleges borrow liberally from a business model led me again to revisit the history of Bethel University and the educational philosophy of its … More That Was The Week That Was
A busy Friday at work bumped my last regular post of the week to Saturday, which is why I’m posting a rare Sunday installment of my weekly links wrap-up, featuring items you might have missed both here at The Pietist Schoolman and elsewhere at sites that might interest my readers. Here Two series continued after … More That Was the Week That Was
There haven’t been a lot of reader comments in the last couple of weeks, probably because I’ve been bloviating so much about disparate topics. So this afternoon I’ll (mostly) keep my opinions to myself and invite responses to questions relating to this big one: Does your church value church history? This question occurs to me … More Does Your Church Value Church History?
The Pietist Schoolman 