Yesterday I was given the honor of delivering the keynote address at the college faculty retreat for Bethel University. The retreat committee asked me to speak on the theme of unity. Here’s a lightly edited version of my comments. I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the … More “Let the Tension Remain” (Eph. 4)
Yesterday Vice President Mike Pence declined to invoke the section of the 25th Amendment that would allow him temporarily to assume presidential powers from Donald Trump, setting up a historic impeachment vote today in the House of Representatives, with Democrats and even some Republicans likely to vote to send Donald Trump to a second Senate … More “A Time to Heal”
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
“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
As he comes to the end of his first letter, the Apostle Peter pastors the pastors. Having been charged by Jesus himself to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep” (John 21:15-17), Peter exhorts “the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge…” (1 Pet 5:1-2). To establish his … More The With-God Life: Suffering and Unity
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews … More The With-God Life: The Foolishness of the Cross
Here’s the text of my Chapel talk at Bethel University last Friday morning. I’ll skip past some of the introductory remarks — mostly clarifying that Pietism, lamentably, has nothing to do with pie — and get right into the biblical passage for the talk. I explained that Luke 24 is what G.W. Carlson had urged … More The Pietist Option for Bethel (Luke 24)
Before he became Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), he was Pres. Ben Sasse — head of a historically Lutheran college that turned around its enrollment crisis under his watch. So I can see why The Atlantic would publish Sasse’s 17 questions that any college searching for a president should ask its finalists. They’re definitely worth asking. For example: … More 7 Questions Every Christian College Should Be Asking Its Next President
Having published an essay last Friday by Hauna Ondrey, the current church historian at North Park Seminary, I’m doubly thrilled today to share a piece by her illustrious predecessor, Philip Anderson. Entitled “Harmony and Congregational Liberty in the Tradition of the Evangelical Covenant Church,” it considers “the unintended consequences of establishing” a precedent to declare … More Harmony and Liberty in the Covenant Church (Phil Anderson)
Over the past months of transition, challenge, and uncertainty, I’ve learned something about myself: I’m a Pietist. It may seem like an obvious statement from someone who wrote a book called The Pietist Option and keeps a blog called The Pietist Schoolman. But I’m seeing even more clearly than before just how central Pietism is to my understanding … More I’m a Pietist
The Pietist Schoolman 