Again

Barbers cut hair. Period. It is there job. Stylists do all sorts of things: dye, dress, curl, wave, perm, and highlight. So when the time comes for a man to get a haircut, he needs to go to a barber. The barber has spent the entire day warming up on on similar heads with similar [...]

Phillip Davies, Father Abraham, and Jim Gaffigan

A festschrift is a collection of essays that is given to a notable person (usually an author) for a special occasion. Phillip Davies is a biblical/archaeological scholar who has become notorious for his critical perspective on the Old Testament. He mostly asserts that the early parts are fiction–no need to believe in guys like Abraham, [...]

On the Vine

I was asked to write the Adult Education Curriculum for COCWS this summer. The Adult Education Team wanted to study the I am sayings and signs in John’s Gospel. There are fourteen total, and most stand independently, so it makes for a good summer study. My responsibility is to prepare study guides that are given [...]

Dirty Theology

This article about a Yale Divinity School student and his avocation of farming gives a glimpse into the relationship between spirituality and nature. Theology, as the piece indicates, is often assumed to be concerned only with things invisible. Any theology that seeks to be biblical, however, must embrace a different posture. This approach values land [...]

Tony Campolo in Memphis

Ever since the passing of Proposition 8 in November, I have wanted to write something that would address some of the efforts that were, in my judgment, misguided. Since my partners in ministry are colored with many hues of the political spectrum, I never knew exactly how my words would come across.
Last night I went [...]

Invisible Man

I am in the middle of Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison. In the book, Ellison considers himself to be invisible. Sure, he is composed of flesh and blood. Yet, he is socially invisible because he is black and he lives in 20th century America. Therefore, people choose to see right past him, through him, and [...]

Scripture and the Great American Novel

In an earlier post I mentioned the idea that Scripture often portrays a more scandalous side of life because it is literature, meant to be read and wrestled. Scripture simply doesn’t have the unimpeded, upward moral ascent that one might expect in, say, a book that hopes to be called the Great American Novel. [...]

In and Out

Item has been discontinued. This message greets the scanning eyes of moms and dads from the face of their recently crafted baby registry. Discontinued? One wonders how unborn children can have such fickle tastes. Further, exactly how has the voice from their under-developed lungs reached the collective bent ear of Babies R Us? There is [...]

Baby Names

Naming a child is a huge responsibility for parents. Just ask any longtime school teacher or hospital nurse about weird names and you can be assured of a lengthy list. My main rule when we named our baby is that we Google it first. Our best research confirms that, for the moment, we shouldn’t be [...]

Reading the Disturbing

Christians are often bothered by the illicit material found in the Old Testament. Incest, violence, warfare, rape, and deceit fill the pages of the 39 books. What is bad is that sometimes the text does not speak a word of condemnation against the perpetrators. And worse, the culprits are often the good guys. Since these [...]