It seems that my bride starts preparing for Christmas around the middle of August, looking for specific items on sale and making gifts for others. Even so, “we” are usually among the last to put up the Christmas decorations. While many stores have been decorated since Halloween (or earlier) and neighbors had their lights strung before […]
The Bible contains four separate accounts of the life of Jesus. They are biographies of Jesus, which we call Gospels. The question is often asked, “Which one should I read first?” That is a hard to answer, as each one has its own strengths. Matthew The Gospel written by Matthew does much to connect Jewish […]
In this Christmas season our thoughts turn more intentionally and more frequently to Jesus, the reason for this annual celebration. In consideration of the first Christmas, my thoughts are warm and cozy, happy and joyous, and idyllic and serene, with angels singing, kings bearing gifts, and happily contented shepherds shepherding. This is all true, but […]
It was just this week that we had our first snowstorm of the season. In fact, it was just last week that we had our first snow. It is unusually late that these events occurred in December. Our first snow is invariably before Thanksgiving and sometimes even before Halloween. I do remember one year, taking our kids […]
This is my first post in December. You may be wondering what has happened to me—well, at least some people have. The short answer is that I have been really busy. It all started Thanksgiving weekend. Feeling that I needed an extended break from work, I determined to take a four-day weekend. When I returned […]
Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed- yet hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian. By Brian McLaren (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) In A Generous Orthodoxy, author Brian McLaren seeks to move the modern world’s theological dialog beyond the paralyzing impasse of liberal versus conservative, into a […]
How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith By Diana Butler Bass (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Diana Butler Bass opens her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith, by admitting that mainline (that is, liberal) Protestantism is in trouble, with declining attendance and a loss of significance. […]
Breaking Through to the Blessed Life By Bruce Wilkinson (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, is a short work and a compelling read. It is based on a brief, two-verse Biblical account of an obscure ancient man, named Jabez. All that is known of Jabez is recorded […]
One final reflection on the prayer of Jabez. In the scant bio for Jabez, it describes him as a good man, saying he “was more righteous than his brothers.” Righteous is a word that we don’t use too often nowadays, but means to be morally upright. Jabez then was a good, morally upright person. Now, […]
Leaves Be Gone