Why Kingdom Theology Matters
Here are a couple great explanations of the Kingdom of God and its accompanying theology: “The [kingdom of God] is the abstract or dynamic idea of reign, rule, or dominion…” – George Eldon Ladd “… the kingdom of God is the central theological motif that gives...
Responding to Ken Wilson (part 3)
Okay folks… this is part three of the long overdue review of Ken Wilson’s A Letter to My Congregation (ALTMC). Please stop emailing me, sending me messages on Facebook, or sending me text messages asking me when it’s going to get published! Listen, I had a baby! Okay,...
On Integrating Doctrine and Life
Integrating theology and praxis, doctrine and life, seems difficult for many people. Michael Horton says, “… when it comes to God, people often imagine that it is possible to have a personal relationship with God apart from theology.” Let’s discuss this issue…
Moltmann’s Historic PreMillennialism…
Jürgen Moltmann (b. 1926) is “without a doubt one of the three or four most widely read and influential of twentieth-century- and early-twenty-first-century theologians" (Thiselton). I recently wrote a paper that ended up exploring a bit of his eschatological...
A Commentary on Judges and Ruth, by Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
About a year ago I did a sermon on Ruth and several of the stories in Judges (Gideon A and Gideon B). When I was preparing for those sermons, I found that I do not own as many commentaries on these two books of the Bible as I do others (don't get me started on how...
Characteristics of the Come & Coming Kingdom
Craig Blaising writes: "The theology of Luke-Acts teaches that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he was enthroned with kingdom authority.64 Paul teaches that Jesus is presently seated at the right hand of God with all things in subjection under his feet (Eph. 1:19-23;...
The Molt on the Cross
It's Good Friday... and Sunday is coming. I've long somewhat "struggled" with Good Friday because I've observed that many of our services tend to imply that we should pretend that the Resurrection hasn't happened. And I get it. We're trying to make much of the cross...
Small Town Missiological Contextualization…
For those of you interested in small town missional theology, I've written a piece for Multiply Vineyard called "Small Town Missiology: Contextualization & Outreach." Feel free to head over there and read it. I'm convinced that we need to spend a lot more time...
Are you Pentecostal or (p)entecostal?
Dr. Allan Anderson writes, "Pentecostalism is above all else a missionary movement— this premise enables us to understand the primary motivation for its global expansion throughout the twentieth century. Global Pentecostalism began as a restorationist or...
A Biblical, Theological, & Practical Response: Why I think Ken Wilson is wrong (part 2)
Last week I published my first review of Ken Wilson's A Letter to My Congregation (ALTMC). I wanted to start the review by offering my initial thoughts and a few observations that I appreciated about Ken's book, along with a few of the issues I found/find most...
Live Blogging #SVS2014 (day 3)
Had a late night, so running a little late today. Make sure to follow the twitter hashtag #SVS2014 to stay up on people's thoughts ****************** 10:03am... the infamous young Thomas Creedy is presenting a paper on theological anthropology. Yes, Thomas is building...
Live Blogging #SVS2014 (day 2)
Had a late night, so running a little late today. Make sure to follow the twitter hashtag #SVS2014 to stay up on people's thoughts ****************** 11:06am... sitting in the "Hermeneutics: The Authority of God in Scripture" session. Listening to Corey Hackworth's...
Live Blogging #SVS2014 (day 1)
Here we go. Refresh and you will see more... ****************** 10am... started with prayer and a few announcements. 10:41am... "Thinking with the Church, Thinking with the Vineyard" Caleb Maskell is speaking on the subject through a conversation with Pope Francis and...
Live Blogging the #SVS2014 Annual Conference
Over the next few days I'll be doing some "live blogging" during my time at the Society of Vineyard Scholars' 2014 annual conference (download the program here). We're blessed to have Craig Keener and Jack Levison as keynote speakers, along with a ton of excellent...
A Biblical, Theological, & Practical Response: Why I think Ken Wilson is wrong (part 1)
Ken Wilson is the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor and has written quite a few helpful books over the years, including the "magisterial" Empowered Evangelicals (w/ Rich Nathan). Ken has somewhat recently changed his views on homosexuality and...
Welcome Home: 10 Ways to be a Welcoming Church
Here is a guest post from my friend, Michael Houle. Mike is the c0-Senior Pastor of Valley Vineyard Church in Chippewa Falls, WI. He's a good friend of mine and what follows are some excellent thoughts on being a welcoming community!...
Why Did Nero Throw Christians to the Lions?
“Nero did not throw Christians to the lions because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of my heart.’ It was rather because they confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord of all,’ meaning that Jesus was Lord even over the realm Caesar claimed as his domain of absolute authority."...
John Wimber on Continuing Jesus’ Ministry…
John Wimber writes, "In the Vineyard, we place a priority on being empowered by the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit empowers for a purpose-not just an experience. We seek the active presence of the Spirit to continue Jesus' ministry. At times we almost lose the purpose;...
The Molt on Joy in Nearness to God…
I finally picked up a copy of Thiselton's book on the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit: In Biblical Teaching, through the Centuries, and Today. Interestingly, Thiselton lists the Molt as one of the major theologians of this century. The more I read the Molt, the more I...
Discipleship Gone Wrong: 5 Ways to Get Back on Track
What is a disciple? Some people say that a disciple is someone who is "following Jesus together as their Master and Teacher so that they may become just like Jesus.” Years ago, Walter Henrichsen said that Disciples are Made Not Born. Jesus himself said that the job of...
Do Trajectories Toward the New Creation Speak to Sexual Addiction?
As a pastor, I've interacted with numerous people who have struggled with the desire to have a lot of sex with as many people as possible. Generally speaking, this struggle has come from men, but I'm sure there are women who have this desire. At any rate, many,...
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