Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In my last essay, we saw how consumer culture has gutted the familial category necessary to understand the church. When a consumer visits a church, he expects another service-provider, such as a hospital or a restaurant. He doesn’t understand the role of men in ministry, and thus, not the role…
First time visitors to our church sometimes express their surprise that children, even the youngest, participate with their parents in the entire worship service. Many congregations created an expectation for the parents (and children) of Sunday School or Child Care being available during the entire worship service or during the…
Quantifying the Love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16 This most beloved verse in all the Bible was spoken by the Savior himself to Nicodemus. As…
While The Lord’s Prayer enjoys wide recognition throughout the Church, its richness and depth may be unrealized due to a lesser familiarity with, what I will argue is, its primary inspiration: the Tabernacle. There, Christ’s intent can rightly be discerned. The Prayer’s methodological correction to the Jews and Gentiles wasn’t…
The Consumption of the Covenant Idea of the Church Last time we saw consumerism, having canalized its attitudes in our culture, shapes what the consumer sees when he or she steps into a church. Here, we’ll see how it has eviscerated the covenant and familial ideas necessary to understand the…
The ignoble Jayber Crow can stir your appetite for the noble. It’s the simplicity of a good ol’ Port William boy that builds the charm of the book. In fact, the elitists in Port William receive the harshest blows and severest outcomes, as they should. But before delving into the…
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Vancouver, BC, is the most expensive housing market in North America, but, as James Surowiecki reports in the New Yorker , this has little to do with the local economy and everything to do with the globalization of real estate: “A torrent of capital from wealthy people in emerging markets…
The title story in Aidan Carl Mathews 1993 collection, Lipstick on the Host , is a tour de force of character development. The story is told by the protagonist, a saucy 41-year-old Irish schoolteacher named Meggie who has a brief, sad affair with a gynecologist, Antony (without an “h”). Mathews…
In each of the synoptics, Jesus sends out the twelve on a mission, and in each He is said to transform them from mere disciples (followers) to apostles (emissaries) by a grant of authority ( exousia ) over the spirits (Matthew 10: 1; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1). Not power (…
In a recent sermon on Mark 6, Pastor Rich Lusk pointed out that John the Baptist’s martyrdom fulfills his life as a Nazirite. According to Numbers 6, the Nazirite offers his “head” (often translated “head of hair”) when his vow is completed. John was a Nazirite from the womb, dedicated…
In his recent book on Vincent of Lerins , Thomas Guarino observes that Vincent taught that Scripture is “perfect and sufficient for all matters - indeed, more than sufficient” (93). Vincent is, of course, more famous for his “canon” that provides a touchstone for distinguishing orthodoxy and heresy, and Guarino’s…
Pastoral ministry - in leading liturgy, in counseling, in preaching and teaching, in day-to-day encouragements and exhortations, in discipline - can only be accomplished by faith. That is true in several ways. You have to believe God’s word to dare to do the things ministers are required to do. By…
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