Christians who have spent any amount of time in church have heard exhortations to the effect that members of Christian communities are supposed to love one another, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, and, as needed, rebuke/exhort one another, among other things. The call we experience is to be disciples, people who live out […]
I have already blogged about the implications of Paul’s exhortations to the Roman Christians in Romans 14, but I think there is more to say. The question of what constitutes a faithful response to questions posed by LGBTQ+ believers and their advocates is a vexing one, and I freely acknowledge that Christians have responded very […]
If in my posts on sexuality it seems that I derive joy from writing what seems like a hard line, or from being the bearer of what, for some, seems like a difficult message, please let me assure you that this is not the case. I am not a fan of controversy for its own […]
Last week I wrote about surrender of my personal desires in pursuit of Jesus’ example. This week I want to talk about surrendering who I am — my very self-identity, on all levels — to Jesus the Christ as integral to being a disciple. My modest proposal focuses on two matters. The first is that […]
In the recent history of Christian discipleship, few issues have proven more controversial than consideration of how LGBTQ+ sexuality fits within the church, and how Christians who desire to live and reflect faithfully on the claims of Jesus the Christ should respond to people who profess a non-traditional sexuality or gender. It seems to me […]
I like to make coffee. I like to make it even more than I like to drink it (and I like that as well). I have heard that coffee is an acquired taste, and I tend to agree. I used to drink coffee made in a variety of places, and I noted that it was […]
What does it mean when we say that the bible was inspired by God? In fairness, despite our formulas, we can only speculate – our statements are only theories about what happens and how. But this is a fruitful exercise for two reasons. One is that thinking through the integration of our convictions about God […]
Browsing a free book table recently, I picked up a book entitled The Foundation of Biblical Authority, edited by James Montgomery Boice, dedicated to advancing biblical inerrancy. The foundation for the theological system evident in the book was believed to arise from a commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture. Evangelical leaders in the 1970’s were […]
At the 2019 Mennonite Brethren denominational conference on hermeneutics (the study of how to interpret Scripture, in case you wondered), a significant theme in the event was the authority of Scripture. The basic premise of biblical authority is that because the bible is inspired by God, the things we read in it about life and […]
A while back, I read an article by my friend Paul Cumin in the MB Herald, and I find much in it that resonates with me as an MB pastor and theologian. It intrigues and saddens me that I see the reputation that many evangelicals have (in the US, but also in Canada) as judgmental, […]
What Are You Thinking? 