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blog archive: spiritual formation
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formation
4/12/2010
Appreciative Inquiry Evangelism: LISTENING
Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us of how important this is
4/08/2010
Anakainosis, A Newsletter for Reformational Thought is now on-line
4/07/2010
Is the iPad a Step Forward or a Step Backward?
Will the iPad motivate and empower the next generation to create culture or will
it simply be an enabler for a generation to simply consume culture?
4/06/2010
Why are Evangelicals so Afraid of the Holy Spirit?
Galatians is about the Holy Spirit, and yet we shy away from his power
3/09/2010
GiftCardGiver.com - A Great New Way to Help the Needy
3/08/2010
Reggie McNeal: The State of the Church in North America
3/03/2010
Who Am I? Rooting Your Identity in the Image of God
Comment Magazine's Third Annual "Making the Most of College" Issue
2/11/2010
The Fragrance of Being Missional
Being the aroma of Christ in the world, Reflections on 2 Corinthians
2/07/2010
Super Bowl Special: Tony Dungy and Drew Brees
2/04/2010
The iPad, or what some called the “Jesus Tablet”
Technology has become a kind of religion
2/03/2010
NT Wright offers help on understanding the Genesis creation narrative
1/23/2010
Letter to Pat Robertson from Satan concerning Haiti
1/21/2010
Andy
Crouch on Creating Culture
1/20/2010
Gabe Lyons on Influencing Culture
1/19/2010
Kiva's Jessica Jackley on Creating Sustainable Financing to Overcome Poverty
12/10/2009
Creation and New Creation: And How They Relate to Spiritual Gifts
A third way to understand Spiritual Gifts
11/17/2009
The Church, Parents, and Training Children in the Faith
11/09/2009
Was there Death Before the Fall?
Death and Decay as a Part of the Good Creation
10/20/2009
Religious Right Admits that Marriage is Hard
Lisa Miller of Newsweek writes this week in her Religion column that “Marriage
is Hard—the religious right admits it.”
10/14/2009
Christian Ideas that Create a Better World
Q Ideas: A great new resource for Christians seeking to transform the culture.
9/14/2009
Shortcuts for Reading the Bible as Story
Hangin’ With Scot McKnight in Akron - here are some of his insights
A
Christian Interacts with Viva La Vida, Or Death and All His Friends
7/23/2009
Coldplay's 42: Those Who are Dead are Not Dead...
7/21/2009
Coldplay's LOST! And the Proper Christian Response
7/20/2009
Coldplay's Viva La Vida - The Will to Power vs. Shalom
6/29/2009
Is our Gospel Too Small?
Individuals helping individuals get into heaven is not enough.
6/26/2009
Thomas Kinkade - Catering to the Platonic Christianity of American Evangelicals
6/15/2009
My article "Who Am I?" included in "Worldview Coursepack"
5/26/2009
American Patriotism and the Bible - This is Getting Ugly
The American Patriot's Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers.
5/23/2009
N.T. Wright: Steve Chalke Does Not Deny Penal Substitution
Wright weighs in on Steve Chalke and the controversy over his view of Penal
Substitutionary Atonement.
Deciphering the Nuanced Differences Between Neopuritanism and Neocalvinism
4/30/2009
Mark Driscoll and Gabe Lyons
4/28/2009
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Calvin College
4/22/2009
Passion Conference and Jubilee Conference
4/21/2009
Jonathan Edwards and Abraham Kuyper
4/20/2009
John Piper and Tim Keller
4/20/2009
Deciphering the Nuanced Differences Between Neopuritanism and Neocalvinism
I felt that it might be helpful to compare the “New Calvinists” that Hansen
writes about in his book (which I’ve been calling
“Neopuritans,” based on the classification by Ray Pennings) with the
“Neocalvinists.”
4/17/2009
Neocalvinism: What is it? Is it different from the Calvinism of Albert
Mohler?
Yes it is.
4/16/2009
Which is the new Calvinism? “Neo-Puritanism” or “Neo-Calvinism?”
Time and Newsweek are not familiar with the important distinction
4/15/2009
Newsweek's Jon Meacham and Redeemer's Tim Keller discuss "The End of
Christian America"
From MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Good Friday
4/15/2009
Which is it? “The End of Christian America” or the rise of “The New
Calvinism?”
Newsweek and Time give contrary versions of Calvinist influence in America
4/27/2009
The Spirituality of Hummingbirds
What spiritual malnutrition does to us
Brian McLaren at Malone University
4/03/2009
McLaren at Malone: My Musings on the Mêlée
After each gave opening statements, Brian McLaren and Bryan Hollon replied
to each other
4/02/2009
Cage Match: Bryan Hollon vs. Brian McLaren (Well, Not Exactly)
4/01/2009
Brian McLaren: Six Stages of the Emerging Church Conversation
Brian McLaren started out the debate at Malone University by mapping out the
progression of the emerging church conversation and his
contribution to it.
3/31/2009
The Inquisition of Brian McLaren?
McLaren gets it from the crowd at Malone University
The Christian and Economics
3/13/2009
The Economics of the Kingdom
Here are a couple issues that arise from believing in strict “free-market,”
“laissez-faire” or "pure” capitalism.
3/12/2009
Market Economy vs. Market Society
3/11/2009
Is Capitalism God’s Ordained Economic System?
2/28/2009
The
Shack in Review
Stephen Shields, in another of his very helpful reviews and compendiums of what
other people are saying on the internet, offers Some
Thoughts on The Shack.
2/09/2009
A
Comma or a Period?
Is God Still Speaking? And How Do We Know We Are Hearing God's Voice? (thoughts
on the United Church of Christ)
2/01/2009
Focus on the Family's THE TRUTH PROJECT
Does The Truth Project Have a Hidden Agenda? And If So, Is It Really Seeking
"Truth?"
1/30/2009
Science Fiction - Religious Science
"Ironically, the universe that science stripped of the supernatural is being
resupplied with deities and redemptive purposes by
science fiction writers and moviemakers. Apparently, we cannot do without
myths."
1/16/2009
Gary Haugen and International Justice Mission featured in The New Yorker
A
Christian Perspective on Work
3/02/2009
Sabbath Rest for the Christian
10/07/2008
Work in Community for Community
9/30/2008
God Provides Through Our Work
9/26/2008
Satisfaction in Work
9/23/2008
The Imago Dei and God the Worker
9/24/2008
Provocative Questions
The New Conspirators by Tom Sine
8/27/2008
Kenneth Copeland's Gospel of Prosperity
It'll Get You Rich!!
7/08/2008
Tim Keller -
The Reason for God, Pittsburgh, PA 5/22/08
6/20/2008
The Creation Sets in Motion the Development of Human Creativity
God is the creator of potential.
5/31/2008
Tim Keller's The Reason for God: Audio Resources
4/22/2008
Great coffeehouses, great conversations, and the college experience
4/10/2008
"Heaven is important, but it's not the end of the world!"
4/09/2008
Individualism - The Strength and Weakness of Evangelicalism
4/01/2008
Keys
to the Kingdom
Scot McKnight on the relationship of the Kingdom of God to the Church.
3/20/2008
Passover Celebration in our Family
A Family Celebration Based on Matthew 26:17-30
Imaging God: Incarnational Community Reaching 21st Century Generations
3/13/2008
The Image of God as Reflection
We were always meant to be glorious reflections of the character of God.
3/12/2008
Understanding the First Chapter of God's Story
God, speaking in the plural, talks to God…and says, “Let’s make human beings
in our image, in our likeness.” This is the beginning of the gospel.
3/11/2008
Starting with the First Chapter
We have been reading the story starting in chapter 2 instead of chapter 1.
The story has several chapters, and we misread all the other chapters
without beginning at the beginning.
1/15/2008
Trinity and the Image of God
If God is that deeply relational, then what does that say about those creatures
that are made in his image?
1/09/2008
Kingdom and the Image of God
How does "Kingdom" relate to the Image of God?
7/18/2007
You shall not murder
The Image of God in Humanity and in Jesus Christ
3/10/2008
Is Our Gospel Too Small?
Scot McKnight has offered the latest of The Christian Vision Project's essays.
And it hits the nail right smack on the head.
2/28/2008
Even NBC knows that a generic faith in a generic God does little good when it
really matters
Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research offers this video clip from NBC's "ER,"
illustrating that the Oprah-ization of American spirituality
that glorifies "searching" for spiritual meaning while de-emphasizing "finding"
is not enough.
2/20/2008
Jubilee 2008: Worldview for the Thinking Student
2/08/2008
Backwards
We are supposed to image God and create culture; we are not supposed to image
the culture and create God.
2/06/2008
You Were Made for Earth - Interview with Michael Wittmer
2/01/2008
Two Year Anniversary of Almost Dying
1/17/2008
The Purpose-Driven Image of God
Are Rick Warren's "purposes" really God’s will for a redeemed humanity?
12/31/2007
Consumed by Consumerism
consumerism has defined our existence in the United States
10/03/2007
"If You Could See Me Now in Heaven"
Bad Theology About Heaven
9/18/2007
Modern Apologetics: For Outreach or for Christian Edification?
9/06/2007
A "Commissioning Service" for everyone in every line of work
9/03/2007
Labored
Day
In the ancient "four-chapter" gospel, work was designed in creation as good and
enjoyable.
8/30/2007
Off to College? Here's Some Help
Several article links to help college students
8/17/2007
A Shrunken Gospel in an Individualistic, Self-Centered Society
8/16/2007
Forgiveness: The Way of Deliverance from Evil
Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks on forgiveness
8/14/2007
Understanding the New Perspective on Paul (by Scot McKnight)
8/04/2007
“In
order to reach those in a postmodern culture, the story of the gospel I tell is
about...”
7/14/2007
Talkin' Eschatology and Emmanuel Kant
Akron / Canton Emergent Cohort
7/12/2007
"When I think of the "gospel," I think of..."
7/10/2007
The Cross of Christ Exhausts Evil
6/27/2007
Social Justice and the Individualistic Gospel
The problem: Social Justice is a second-tier thing, while personal conversion is
that which is of top priority. Imagine what it would be like in our churches if
there were no such division.
6/20/2007
A New Kind of Conversation is Now in Print
I just received my complimentary copies
6/08/2007
The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness: A Guide for Students
3/12/2007
Embrace or Distance - Henri Nouwen's thoughts on The Return of the Prodigal Son
2/10/2007
Praying "Our Father"
To whom, among the Trinity, are we supposed to address our prayers?
2/08/2007
A New Kind of EPIC - Missional Community in a Megachurch Context
an attempt at missional community.
2/02/2007
One
Year Ago Today…
Reflections on almost dying
1/31/2007
Does God “Spank” His Children?
1/23/2007
How is God in Control When Terrible Things Happen?
That’s the question that many who face life-and-death situations ask.
1/15/2007
We
Still Have a Dream
...even though evangelical Christians have failed miserably to move our nation
away from racialization.
1/12/2007
Christian Community and Harley-Davidson
In their book, Living On Purpose: Finding God’s Best for Your Life, Christine
and Tom Sine offer an excellent chapter entitled, “Seeking First the Kingdom in
Community.”
1/09/2007
Praying Community Prayers vs. Just Individual Prayers
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven…”
12/20/2006
Shalom is a very practical thing
“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”
(Psalm 29:11)
12/19/2006
Peace in place of Affliction, Storms, Despair
Reflection on “Peace” at Christmas (Isaiah 54 & 55)
12/16/2006
Praying for Our Troops during this Christmas Season...
...And that Our Nation Would Learn the Meaning of Peace.
12/11/2006
Light in the Darkness (Isaiah 8 & 9)
11/27/2006
The Good News of Jesus vs. the “good news” of Caesar
11/24/2006
Just in Time for Advent: The REAL Mary: The Mary We Never Knew from Scot
McKnight
11/22/2006
Pray as
You Go
11/21/2006
Benny Hinn - What a Great Guy
11/13/2006
“You are the salt of the earth.”
Those who embrace a Protective Social Action read that verse and primarily think
of salt as being a preservative agent...
11/10/2006
My Response to Francis Beckwith about Ted Haggard
11/09/2006
Beyond Religious Trappings to Really Shining God’s Glorious Light (Isaiah 58)
11/08/2006
Two Ways to Look at the Ted Haggard Scandal
10/31/2006
More on Protective vs. Transformative Social Action
10/30/2006
Moving From Protective to Transformative Social Action
10/26/2006
FREE HUGS !
The Australian band Sick Puppies have a very popular video on You Tube
10/11/2006
What gets you through the hard times: reflection on my surgery
9/19/2006
Embracing Grace Interaction from Ted Gossard
9/17/2006
Osteen, Warren, and Prosperity
9/17/2006
The Nativity Story and Wondering About Mary - Scot McKnight's The Real Mary
9/11/2006
Five Years After 9/11 – What Christians Have NOT Learned
9/7/2006
Decision Making and Vocation
8/28/2006
Top 10 Signs That You're Obsessed with Bible Prophecy
8/21/2006
Kingdom Tension and Paradox: Loving the Kingdom more than the World, but
Allowing the Kingdom to Transform the World
8/20/2006
Christian + University = ?
7/29/2006
Making the Most of College
7/28/2006
Francis Collins on the Relationship Between Science and Faith
7/28/2006
Sir John Houghton on the Relationship Between Science and Faith
7/27/2006
"A Tribute to Stanley Grenz" - Princeton Theological Review
Apologetics and the Postmodern Turn
7/20/2006
Incarnational Apologetics
Apologetics and the Postmodern Turn, Part 3
7/15/2006
The Place for Evidence in a Postmodern World
Apologetics and the Postmodern Turn, Part 2
7/12/2006
Apologetics and the Postmodern Turn
Part 1: Belief in the Existence of God
7/17/2006
Interactions with a Self-Confessed Atheist
7/11/2006
Potentiality and the Image of God
5/26/2006 - 6/24/2006
The Good News that Conquers Our Predicament
A Neo-Calvinistic and Emerging Church
Understanding of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God
1: Define the Predicament, and You Understand
another Facet of the Gospel
2: Predicament #1: The Lack of Shalom
3: Evil Bondage in the Place of Shalom
4: EXODUS and the GOOD NEWS of FREEDOM in Paul
5: EXODUS and the GOOD NEWS of FREEDOM in the GOSPELS
6: Another of Humanity’s Predicaments: Broken Relationships
7: The Prophesied Kingdom of God
8: The Kingdom of God Restoring Israel from Exile
9: The Kingdom of God Healing Broken Relationships
10: The Kingdom of God and the Atonement
11: The Kingdom and the Mission of God’s People
12: What is my view of the Kingdom of God?
5/19/2006
Stan Grenz and How I Understand the Atonement
5/15/2006
Penal Substitution Revisited
4/19/2006
A Genuine Desire for Holiness - Reflections from the Edge of Death 3
4/11/2006
Jesus and the Four Cups of Passover, part 2
4/10/2006
Jesus and the Four Cups of Passover, part 1
4/7/2006
Pledging to Live in the Opportune Times - Reflections from the Edge of Death 2
4/3/2006
The
Power of Prayer - Reflections from the Edge of Death 1
1/17/2006
Emerging Christian Ethics: Emmanuel Kant in Modern Evangelicalism
1/13/2006
Emerging Christian Ethics: Utilitarianism, Hedonism, and John Piper
1/12/2006
Emerging Christian Ethics: "Greed is Good." Is it always?
1/11/2006
New Series: Emerging Christian Ethics
1/3/2006
The Top 10 Books I Read in 2005
12/31/2005
Somebody else's 2005 Book Awards (Byron Borger)
12/29/2005
Faith and Ethics
12/22/2005
Review of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
12/20/2005
Mohler questions the "Happy Holidays" battle
12/10/2005
Resources on C. S. Lewis and Narnia
12/6/2005
What is the Function of Scripture?
12/5/2005
James Dobson Misses the Point (Again)
11/23/2005
Look! Up in the Sky! It's... the Messiah! Superman as a Christ Figure
An
Emmanuel Apologetic
11/7/2005
An Emmanuel Apologetic-part 4: God with Us in the Incarnational Christian
Community
11/3/2005
An Interesting Discussion on "Emmanuel Apologetic" Over at Reformissionary
11/2/2005
An Emmanuel Apologetic -part 3: The God Who Is Increasingly With Us
10/28/2005
An Emmanuel Apologetic -part 2: Apologetics Beyond Individualism
10/27/2005
An Emmanuel Apologetic -part 1: Apologetics Beyond Reason
10/21/2005
Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us
10/4/2005
$1 a minute, and worth every cent--NOOMA® Trees from Rob Bell.
10/4/2005
Alcohol and Redemption
10/3/2005
Letting our theology trump the “literal interpretation” of the text
10/3/2005
Emerging Multi-Ethnic Ministry
9/27/2005
What the
Bleep?
9/26/2005
Being Black and Reformed--Another Great Model on the Rise
9/15/2005
"Faith" and "Service" in the Wake of Katrina
8/1/2005
Kingdom of God: Victory and Liberation
7/30/2005
Kingdom of God article from Scot McKnight (pdf)
7/28/2005
Something is not right with the world
6/25/2005
The Books
I Love
6/21/2005
Shalom is the Way it is Meant to Be
5/19/2005
Putting Theories of Atonement in Their Place
5/19/2005
What is
Faith? Faith is not an adherence to a set of beliefs; faith is a trusting
relationship with God.
5/16/2005
What is
Sin? "Sin is not a breaking of commands; sin is a breaking of
relationships."
5/14/2005
A Conversation between Joel and Linda about Eternity What will our future
eternal life with God be like?
4/28/2005
Work in Progress (I need your help on writing "CREATED FOR GLORY")
4/18/2005
More on the Imago Dei and "The Purpose Driven Life"
4/12/2005
Thoughts on Intelligent Design and Darwinism
3/30/2005
Links of Interest Nowadays:
Bill Arnold at Poet in Motion has been running a series discussing N. T.
Wright's somewhat controversial take on Biblical Authority.
3/25/2005
The Purpose Driven Life—Did Rick Warren Get it Right?
3/25/2005
Who Killed Jesus? Did the Jews?
3/21/2005
Top 5 Books I Read in 2004 (#1) Heaven Is a Place on
Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God by Michael
E. Wittmer
3/12/2005
Proposition or Love?
3/2/2005
Our Problem: Looking Righteous but not Acting Righteous
3/2/2005
The Gospel of HEARTS, MINDS, MOUTHS, and HANDS
2/21/2005
Top 5 Books I Read in 2004 (#3) Creation & New Creation in the New
Testament by N.T. Wright
2/12/2005
Two New
Lists -- Getting Rid of BAD Discipleship Paradigms
2/7/2005
Beginner’s Guide to Worldview Jargon
1/31/2005
Imago Dei - The Image of God in Man
1/31/2005
"Why
Sing a Song?" Check out what Bill Arnold wrote about living the Christian life
right here and now
1/27/2005
Top 5 Books I Read in 2004 (#4) - Finding Faith by Brian McLaren
1/18/2005
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (A Conference from Evangelicals for
Social Action)
1/13/2005
Top 5 Books I Read in 2004 (#5) - The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy,
Community, and Small Groups by Joseph R. Myer
1/10/2005
Green Ears, a Bow Tie, and an Inerrant Bible
1/8/2005
Theological Responses to the Tsunami Tragedy
11/16/2004
N. T. Wright on Redemption: (Redemption is not just making life in creation a
little bit better or a matter of rescuing spirits and souls from the evil of a
material world...)
11/15/2004
Knowing the "Right Answers" does not mean you "Believe" them (a quote from
Dallas Willard)
11/14/2004
Am I an Environmental Wacko?
8/23/2004
My recent conversation with a guy I met in a laundromat about The Da Vinci Code
(apologetics)
7/15/2004
Incarnation: The Body of Christ Humbly Serving Others
7/11/2004
Consumer Christianity
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