As of today, I am fully underway in pursuit of a Doctor of Theology Degree at Northwest Nazarene University. These past couple of months I have been working on the introductory course (“Introduction to Online Theological Research”). Today I begin my first “real” course: Theological Method and Contextualization. This is why I have not made […]
I recently completed all the John Le Carré novels. Le Carré primarily wrote espionage thrillers such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Mark Twain famously said, “Write what you know.” Le Carré knew spies. During the cold war, he served in both MI5 and MI6. His first […]
There is a difference between being accessible and being available. Accessibility is the ability to be accessed. For a pastor to be accessible means that their door is always open, their phone is always on (and they always answer), they are always willing to say, “Yes,” when you request their time and presence. Pastors today […]
The month of March marks the beginning of spring. The snow turns to rain (at least in the valleys), the dead grass starts to green, the trees begin to bloom. Perhaps you will see some tulips and daffodils daring to break through the ground. At least in my family, it is a season of birthdays: […]
This Christmas my wife gave me one of my favorite Christmas presents of all time: the complete set of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. I cannot remember receiving a Christmas or birthday gift that moved me so close to tears! Over the past couple of years, Barth has become a helpful and influential voice in my thinking […]
“The Bible is clear.” This is a statement I hear on a fairly regular basis. On its own, I do not find the statement inherently problematic. There is much that is “clear” about what scripture teaches. Love God. Love people. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” One would have […]
“The crowd is untruth.” – Søren Kierkegaard “Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. Simon and those with him tracked him down. When they found him, they told him, ‘Everyone’s looking for you!’He replied, ‘Let’s head in the other direction, […]
I am not usually quick to give advice. The problem with advice is that the giver of advice does not have to live with the consequences of that advice. What works and has value for me may not work for someone else in another situation. Human beings are each unique. There is no cookie cutter […]
Every now and then, God calls us into a bigger world. In my hometown there was a local grocery store with an oversized parking lot. The extra space would often be used by various vendors – fireworks in the summer, Christmas trees in December. When we would drive by I would often look to see […]
Christmas is Practically Here So here we are at the end of Advent. Tomorrow evening the Advent songs will appropriately give way to Christmas carols. The wait is almost over. Almost. As we enter into the final hours of Advent, what ought to be our mindset? Our attitude? Our posture? Many of us will spend […]
The Local Pastor 