We have spent the last year working our way through the Gospel of John. Along with our sister broadcast radio program, White Horse Inn, we have explored the themes, characters, theology, history, and meaning of this important book. We believe that these kinds of “deep dives” into Scripture strengthen our faith and ultimately help build […]
If it was good enough for Isaac Watts, then it’s good enough for me.” I didn’t come right out and say it, but I came close. I certainly was not going to attempt writing a new hymn; none was needed. Over two decades of writing and speaking about singing and liturgy, I’ve been accused of […]
In my article “Learning How to Live and Thrive with Post-Postcolonial Missions” in the last issue of Modern Reformation (September/October 2019), we started a new topic that I would like to finish off now. I proposed that evangelical missions works according to one of two paradigms, colonial missions and postcolonial missions, with a third paradigm […]
We are drawn to extremes, because they help us categorize the world around us. We like things that are black and white, right or wrong, good or bad. Categorizing saves us the time and exhausting efforts of trying to understand what is beyond our comprehension. Mental illness, especially in its most serious forms, jolts us […]
Life beyond death? It’s a bold claim. Granted, it’s a doctrine confessed without much hesitation each week by Christians worldwide. And even the spiritual but not religious crowd often appeals to our deceased loved ones going to a better place. This is because many of us want to believe that we don’t go into oblivion […]
Our world makes a radical separation between the realms of “truth” (for example, fact, science, reason) and “values” (opinion, religion, emotion).1 Yet the final two chapters of John’s Gospel make an intimate and unbreakable connection between true knowledge of Jesus and true belief in Jesus; there is no division between the “Jesus of history” and […]
On a clear day, I can see the Italian Alps from the balcony in my study. Their impressive form stares at me like the imposing faces of majestic giants, sculpted by deep lines of grey and green, crowned with snow-topped peaks. Living in Milan, I know that the Alps are never far away. Although a […]
Essential Writings of Meredith G. Kline Introduction by Jonathan G. Kline Biographical Sketch by Meredith M. Kline Hendrickson, 2017 330 pages (hardcover), $29.95 In a festschrift for Professor Moshe Greenberg, Tehillah le-Moshe (Eisenbrauns, 1997), the editors’ appreciation honored the scholar in the following manner: “His life-work is a demonstration that the study of ancient texts […]
Christ the Heart of Creation By Rowan Williams Bloomsbury, 2018 304 pages (hardcover), $35.00 I have always had a somewhat ambivalent attitude to Rowan Williams. I find his own positive theology to be of the banal liberal variety that causes damage to the church. His time as archbishop of Canterbury was, in a sense, the […]
How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church By C. Christopher Smith Brazos Press, 2019 222 pages (paperback), $16.99 Some of the most profitable, God-glorifying, and personally challenging conversations I’ve had in the last decade occurred with a deacon in my local church. With our union in Christ at […]
Christmas is a time when we cross great distances and deep divides to be with the ones we love. For some, that might mean traveling to see family and friends in a different town or state. For others, it might mean taking small steps to overcome conflict with someone in your family. Christmas is a […]
