8:23 am Hey Andrew. 8:31 am Who this? 8:39 am Your mother. 8:42 Mom! You have a cell phone now? 8:47 am I'm using your sister's phone. Beth's phone. 8:51 am Oh, hey. Don't have Beth's number in my phone, so didn't recognize it. How are you? Everything cool? 8:58 am No, not really. Your father fell again last night. Few fractured ribs, busted wrist, wounded pride. 9:05 am Wow! He ok? Doing alright? What happened? 9:12 am He will survive, but in lots of pain. Will be in hospital till 27th. 9:20 am Man, that's awful. Thnx so much for letting me know. 9:25 am Your … [Read more...] about Where Is My Plow, and Where Is Yours?
How to Rock Twitter Like a Pharisee
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1 ESV) I wonder what it would look like if the Pharisees had a Twitter account. It would probably look a little like this: Maybe it isn’t so hard to imagine… There is a fine line between facebragging and giving God-honoring information. I’ve been working through taking the log out of my own eye before attempting to take the specs out of my brothers and sisters. I started out by making a list of a few … [Read more...] about How to Rock Twitter Like a Pharisee
PASTORS – Could We Use a Little Self-examination? (by Andy Hynes)
Andy Hynes is a PhD candidate at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Follow him @ABHYNES on Twitter. There is much to learn from our Puritan brothers. As pastors they spent countless hours studying, praying, and pouring over the souls of people. They were deeply embedded in pursuing the things of God. They diagnosed the plight of man not merely as guilt for sins, but a greater pollution and bondage to sin. Not bondage to sins of particular weaknesses of character or bad habits, but a state of being. The depravity of man’s heart was the concern. “They sought to expose the sinfulness … [Read more...] about PASTORS – Could We Use a Little Self-examination? (by Andy Hynes)
Did the Same People Shout “Hosanna” and “Crucify?”
This morning, I saw a question on the Holy Rev. Dr. Marty Duren's Facebook asking: Is there biblical evidence that those who cried 'Hosanna' on Palm Sunday were the ones who days later cried 'crucify Him'? Most in the discussion answered the question in the negative. They seemed to think that the group that praised Jesus at the Triumphal Entry was pretty much a different bunch than the ones who later that week screamed for Jesus' blood. One commenter referenced an article on Challies.com (by guest blogger John Ensor) called "The Crowd Was Not Fickle." He argues that "the crowd" in Matthew … [Read more...] about Did the Same People Shout “Hosanna” and “Crucify?”
Why We’ve All But Lost the Gay Marriage Debate
Back in 2011, Focus on the Family conceded that “we’ve probably lost” the gay marriage debate. Two years later “probably” would be an understatement. We have all but lost this debate. I am making the argument in this piece that this happened years ago when we swallowed certain cultural virtues instead of confronting them. In their book, The Narcissism Epidemic, authors Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell make the argument that narcissism is on a relentless rise in our culture. Starting in the 1960s, “Americans core cultural ideas slowly became more focused on self-admiration and … [Read more...] about Why We’ve All But Lost the Gay Marriage Debate
The Problem of Meta-narrative
My undergraduate work was in English Literature, and so I tend to see the world in more literary terms. Ya, I'm sorta nerdy like that. One thing that I have really begun to see is the meta-narrative issue leading people astray. You probably have read that our good friend Rob Bell support same gender marriage. How did Rob get to this place? I think it's the danger of the meta-narrative. What happens with the meta-narrative is it connects all things into one big ongoing story. We are linked in one big plot progression. The danger of the meta-narrative is it makes the entire story dynamic. … [Read more...] about The Problem of Meta-narrative
Baptist Renaissance NCAA Tournament Picks (by Bart Barber)
Bart blogs at Praisegod Barebones (at least when the spirit moves him). He also was gracious to let me publish his prognostications. Fortunately for him, he did not say, "Thus saith the Lord," so no Old Testament punishments are called for. March Madness is upon us once again, when everyone from shipping managers to laboratory technicians to car salesman to high school custodians become self-proclaimed doctors of bracketology. Pastors are right in there among them, but I have an admission to make: I know a lot less than the average man does about college basketball…about any sort of … [Read more...] about Baptist Renaissance NCAA Tournament Picks (by Bart Barber)
The Problem with Jesus
For centuries, the Jews had awaited the day when Messiah would come. They talked about it, groaned for it and prayed diligently to see that day come. False messiahs rose up and led many astray to destruction. But finally, the Christ came. Just as the prophet Zechariah had foretold, he came riding in on a donkey, a humble beast of burden. “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” Matthew 21:5 (citing Zechariah 9:9) And Jerusalem exploded with excitement. They knew the stories of this … [Read more...] about The Problem with Jesus
The Future of Pastoral Ministry: Are we Really Up to This? (by Joel Rainey)
Joel Rainey blogs at Themelios. He is the Executive Director of the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association. I spent this morning with a colleague working on the contours of a potential Doctor of Ministry program for Maryland pastors, and among other things, we discussed the future of pastoral ministry. For a few semesters, I've had the honor of teaching Pastoral Theology at a local seminary,and one of the units we cover relates to the task of leadership in emerging culture. As an introduction to this unit, I give the students a description of what the world will look like in the not-too-distant … [Read more...] about The Future of Pastoral Ministry: Are we Really Up to This? (by Joel Rainey)
Review of “Dangerous Calling”
In recent days the Discovery Channel has honed in on a few of the worlds most dangerous jobs; namely loggers and deep sea fishermen. These jobs are arduous and hazardous. According to Paul Tripp one other “job” that ought to be put on the list is pastoral ministry. In his book, Dangerous Calling, Tripp highlights the unique challenges of pastoral ministry. Tripp believes that “there are many pastors who have inserted themselves into a spiritual category that doesn’t exist” (23). This false spiritual category is confirmed and strengthened by the pastoral culture in which pastors live. … [Read more...] about Review of “Dangerous Calling”