Considering the Power of a Father

Like it or not, fathers have lots of power in a person’s life.  A father is supposed to reveal the character and nature of God to his children (mothers are too).  As a father lives as a reflection of God’s character, he speaks the truth about who God is to his children.  When he departs [...]

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Considering the Heights of the Gospel

If the atonement is the heart of gospel, as J.I. Packer says, then adoption is the height of the gospel.  We have been lifted from the plight of condemned rebels and raise to the heights of being children of the living God.  Packer also notes that we don’t understand Christianity unless we understand the biblical [...]

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Considering Simple Church, Part 2

Due to a number of distractions, it took me quite some time to read the second half of Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.  The first section of the book is focused on helping you to understand the need to be simple, based on their research, and what it means to be a [...]

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Considering Mark Driscoll

Actually, we’ll be considering the CT Article on Mark Driscoll.  I read my copy a few weeks ago, and have meant to get to this.  But… I’ve been busy.  The author, Collin Hansen, tries to paint a picture of Driscoll that is honest, balancing his strengths and the criticisms laid against him.  I found the [...]

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My Night at the Trop

Saturday night the Great Morgano and I went to see the Red Sox play the Rays at Tropicana Field over in St. Pete.  We went a little early so we could visit the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame.  I’ve been meaning to go there for years, and they moved it to the Trop last [...]

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Considering Simple Gospel Ministry

David Fairchild (along with Drew Goodmanson) has been thinking about Frame’s triperspectivalism as it impacts ministry.  The diagram is his, from his post on the Transformissional Church.
If you take this from a Simple Church perspective, you see a great picture of what a church is supposed to do.  This also fits with what I wrote [...]

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Considering Double Standards

The lawsuit against the Knicks is revealing the seedy underbelly of sports and subcultures in an interesting way.  It has, as others have noted, been buried under the Patriots cheating controversy.
But we find that an even bigger double standard exists regarding language used to describe people- at least in the mind of Isiah Thomas.  He explains [...]

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Still Considering Cheating

From Bill Cowher (on Boston.com):
“From a coach’s perspective, trying to steal signals is part of the game. We understand that as a coach. You see walkie-talkies, tape recorders, but when you take the camera on the field, that’s just arrogance,” he said. “I think the penalty was stiff by the commissioner. I think it will [...]

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Watching Theology

Drats… one of my ideas has been taken.  Steve Brown, one of my former profs, has a new podcast called Watching Theology.  These podcasts look at the theology and worldviews presented in various motion pictures.  They do some of my favorite movies (Pulp Fiction, Lifeboat, Die Hard) and some movies I’ve never heard of before.  [...]

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Clean Shave- New Beginning

I had a really dumb idea this weekend. I saw a picture of myself in The ARP Bicentennial History while I was clearing out my office. It must have been taken pre-marriage because I was clean shaven. Since our engagement, I’ve had a gotee for all but about a week. That was for the 3-2-1 [...]

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Considering Eric Mangini

There is an element of Patriots-gate (spy-gate, camera-gate) that no one is talking about.  It is connected with something they are talking about.
1. People accuse Belichick of doing this for years, including in Cleveland.
2. Mangini knew of this from his time with the Patriots coaching staff.
3. Mangini waited until he could catch Belichick in the [...]

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Big Papi is Finding His Groove

Most of this season Bob Ryan has been calling Papi a “warning track hitter”, lamenting the loss of power that came with the knee injury he’s planning on having repaired in the off season.  His home run numbers were seriously down after breaking the Red Sox single season record last year.  He’d become a doubles [...]

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Considering Cheating

Patriot-Gate is rocking the nation.  Should it?

This is the photo touchdown.org is using as proof that something fishy was up.  Yeah, that photographer is on the Jets sideline!  How did that Patriots coach get there ?  I find it amazing that a Patriots cameraman could get on the Jets sideline in the Meadowlands.
Before I say [...]

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Considering Simple Church

Being, essentially, on sabbatical, provides me with the opportunity to do some study.  Some of it is material that is popular, and possibly unhealthy for the Church.  Some of it is popular, and for the well-being of the Church.  Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger is a book that could be of great [...]

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Considering Velvet Elvis and the Church

This the end of Velvet Elvis.  The final chapter is called Good.  And the point is the church should be doing good in society.  Rob Bell wants nothing to do with Christians who retreat from society, focusing on getting to heaven and “saving souls.”  In some ways, Rob provides a good critique of much dispensational thinking.  [...]

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Considering Some Sports Stuff

First, some good stuff.
- Jacoby Ellsbury continues to shine for the Red Sox.  He has had a hit in every game since being called up, at a clip of .406.  Manny’s injury has not hurt the Sox as it would have in previous years.  Here’s hoping that the rest does Manny good so he returns [...]

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Considering Velvet Elvis and Salvation

I read Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith’s sixth chapter, New, last night.  I nearly choked.  Rob Bell seems to have painted himself into a corner.  Any issues that popped up before are miniscule compared to what I read last night.  Any thoughts I might have that maybe I was being tough on Rob, well….. [...]

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Considering Velvet Elvis and Faith

The next chapter in Velvet Elvis is entitled Dust.  It refers to the dust stirred up by the rabbi as he walks with his disciples.  Rob Bell provides a great deal of background information on the religious instruction of Israel’s youth in Jesus’ day.  He talks about how someone becomes a rabbi, and a disciple.  [...]

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Considering How Churches Change

The final chapter of How People Change is the story of one church.  This story is also found in a recent edition of The Journal of Biblical Counseling (Summer 2006).
It is a the story of a church that plateaued.  The pastoral staff used the model of change discussed in the book.  They identified how they [...]

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Considering How People Change

I’ve been reading How People Change by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp for a few weeks, longer than I wanted to and not as long as I should.  But that I mean I will probably re-read it and spend more time working thru the material.
This was a great book, though not an easy read.  I would probably [...]

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