At the Intersection of Christian Faith, Worldviews, Nature, and the Arts
I'm reminded today of words spoken to me by J. Christy Wilson, Jr, my missions and evangelism professor at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary who was also my friend and spiritual father in the faith. It was 1951 when he and wife, Betty, first set foot in Afghanistan. Christy served for 22 years as a missionary …
When the Unthinkable Becomes Your Reality... What follows is a message I preached on October 20, 2024. The sermon was a departure from my norm. Rather than sitting with a particular piece of scripture and mining it for its wisdom, I moved through a series of poems, passages of scripture, and devotional messages that have …
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Sunday's palms are Wednesday's ashes as another Lent begins; Thus we kneel before the Maker in contrition for our sins. We have marred baptismal pledges, in rebellion gone astray; Now returning, seek forgiveness; grant us pardon, God, this day! We have failed to love our neighbors, their offenses to forgive, Have not listened to their …
James 1:26; 3:1-12 In the early 1970s, comedian George Carlin made headlines across the world with his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” He began the routine by saying, "There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are seven of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is: …
Review of Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022) In the introduction to Against Liberal Theology, author Roger E. Olson states that his goal in writing the book was to provide “a warning aimed mainly at those who think of themselves as progressive Christians,” a warning about “not sliding into true liberal …
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I earned my Master of Divinity degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS); was ordained in the American Baptist Churches USA; pastored churches for nearly twenty years; served as a visiting professor of world religions and spiritual formation at GCTS and was an Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Renewal and Director of the D.Min. in the …
John 20:1-18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Welcome Happy Morning, age to age shall say. Hell today is vanquished, Heaven is won today. Lo! The dead is living, God forevermore; Him, their true Creator, all His works adore. Come then, true and faithful, Now fulfill Thy Word! Tis Thine own third morning, Rise O Buried Lord! Show …
“But Christianity is not just a useful lifeboat for stranded intellectuals. If it isn’t literally true, it isn’t valuable. Whether Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead matters. It mattered to St Paul. ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.’ And it should matter to us…As …
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Mark 11:1-11 and Matthew 27:45-61 Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday, is the day on which we recall Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem; it is also the day on which we recount the sufferings of our Lord Jesus in the week that followed. This Holy Week began with Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem where He was …
Luke 11:33-36 Richard Rolle (1290-1349) writes, in his The Fire of Love, about the spiritual flame that feeds the soul: “I cannot tell you how surprised I was the first time I felt my heart begin to warm. It was real warmth, too, not imaginary, and it felt as if it were actually on fire. …
