What images do the word work bring to mind? If students and others Ive had the chance to ask are any measure, the first thoughts arent all that positive. For myself I can recall flip comments I have made (half-) jokingly about hating when my work gets in the way of my hobby (cycling, mountain bikingthe sport of kings!). From what I get from others, Im fairly typical ...
When was the last time you heard the Bible taught and it penetrated to the core of your being? What about having this experience after thinking, I could care less about this topic!? Then, much to your surprise, the Spirit used the Bible rightly-interpreted and rightly-applied to cut through your lack of interest and the absence of a felt need. You stumbled out of the room enthralled with the God who speaks so clearly and powerfully through His Word. You left passionately asking the Lord of the Bible how you could align your life with this amazing truth that you cared nothing about the hour before ...
Without any hesitation we can say that yes, God wants you to be happy. The Bible (as well as experience) tells us that the Christian is given happiness in an incredible number of ways. But Christ has actually sweetened the deal and offered us something even better. While happiness is used to describe a basic feeling of gladness and contentment, what Christ offers is joy, which includes happiness, but runs much deeper, lasts much longer, and is felt much more strongly than happiness. The word joy shows up roughly four hundred times in the Bible, and it is no coincidence. Christ wants you to experience the joy that comes from him ...
Let me begin by saying I am passionate about exposing teenagers to the work of God around the world, as well as to using their talents to help continue that work both where they live as well as other locations both near and far. However, I am concerned about how most short-term mission trips are planned, administered and experienced in ways that demean and undermine the people and ministries we seek to serve, while impressing upon our teenagers missions is something you do (i.e. an event) rather than an attitude or lifestyle. I am concerned because for many years as a youth pastor, I was the problem ...
Todos los viernes en la tarde un grupo de estudiantes y maestros de la universidad cristiana en donde trabajo se re炭nen a jugar basquetbol. Hace unas semanas fui a jugar con ellos y lo que parec鱈a un d鱈a normal se convirti坦 en una experiencia que me ha impactado y que tambi辿n ha tenido el mismo efecto en much鱈simas personas. Despu辿s de jugar por m叩s de una hora uno de mis alumnos del doctorado se dispon鱈a a irse a su casa cuando le ped鱈 que me esperara unos minutos porque necesitaba hablar con 辿l. Primero se sent坦 y despu辿s se recost坦 en el c辿sped a un lado de la cancha en lo que terminaba de jugar mi partido. En cuanto el juego termin坦 fui a hablar con 辿l y en ese momento me di cuanta que estaba inm坦vil, sin respirar y con una apariencia p叩lida y descolorida. Inmediatamente ped鱈 ayuda y mientras algunos lo trataban de resucitar yo llam辿 a los servicios de emergencias. Gracias a Dios lograron que respirara otra vez y se lo llevaron a la sala de emergencias de un hospital cercano ...
This past fall a friend shared an article from the New York Times entitled The Microcomplaint: Nothing Too Small to Complain About. It was amusing to read about all the silly complaints that celebrities tweeted to the world. Everything from the misery of only decaf coffee being available to what the writer deemed a complaintbrag of not being able to buy a Persian rug with cherub imagery. This habit, however, does not appear to be limited to celebrities. Cruise ship directors have received equally amusing complaints. For example, one passenger reported that the sea was too loud while another passenger grumbled about there being no celebrities on the Celebrity Cruise ship. In the past complaining was something often reserved for private ears. Today, however, it is not only acceptable to publically complain about the littlest inconvenience, it is often encouraged. It has even been identified as a communication style, particularly of Americans, who frequently see themselves as victims. Are Christians exempt from microcomplaining or are we part of the culture of complaint? What does Scripture have to say about complaining? ...
Michelle Lee-Barnewall (Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Talbot School of Theology) recently wrote and published Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Gender Debate. We wanted to learn more about this book, so we had Michelle respond to some questions ...
... When I was younger, I would try to get rid of doubts by closing my eyes (really really tightly) and concentrate (really really hard) on pushing out the doubtful thoughts. And when I (inevitably) started thinking about my doubts again, Id simply try again (really try this time!) to expel those doubts. But you cant push doubts out of your mind any easier than you can push other thoughts out of your mind by valiantly trying ...
A spiritually-minded friend of my wife and me recently made this comment: I struggle with the idea of praying according to the will of God. Since I know that some things are clearly according to Gods will, why cant I just pray directly about those things and know for certain that theyre going to happen? But thats not the way it works with my prayers. For example, I know that God doesnt want Christians to get divorced. But Ive sometimes prayed that God would preserve a struggling marriage that still ended up in divorce ...
This semester I am part of a professors reading group about the relationship of economics and Christian theology. We are reading several books and discussing relevant issues regarding a theology of work, stewardship, and economics. Obviously every author and participant has a unique perspective about different topics, but in our group we all come from a position of privilege, especially as we talk about poverty and ways to help those who are less fortunate. We have a tendency to talk about the poor as they, as people different from us and not necessarily as peers who can also teach us and lead us into better paths as we immerse in their circumstances and perspectives ...
The new year is always a time of reflection. Many people make resolutions to lose weight, exercise, continue education, and a host of other plans. Whether or not you make resolutions, the new year is a good time to reflect on your life and ministry ...
When was the last time you considered the mentally ill or, even much less, ministry to the mentally ill? I have been remembering a good friend. He was my best friend during my freshman year in college. Our rooms were in the same suite in our dorm. We shared a bathroom. We took the same classes. We sat next to one another in chapel because my last name followed his alphabetically. We were on the basketball team. As point guard, I fed him the ball, and, as shooting guard, he made the shot. What a team we were! He introduced me to my wife. We double-dated numerous times. He was the best man in my wedding. We vacationed together as families through the years. We saw one another on at least a yearly basis, our friendship always picking up like we had just seen one another the week before. We shared something special ...
This article builds on Hidden Sins, Part One, which was written previously (August 24, 2012). I forgot to post Part Two, so here it is. The next question to be asked is: What are the results of hidden sins, and what can we do about it?
Why should Christians care about citizenship and politics? After all, didnt Jesus say that his kingdom was not from this world? (John 18:36) Didnt the apostle Paul write that our citizenship in in heaven? (Philippians 3:20) God may have instituted civil authorities and empowered their coercive judgments (Romans 13:1) but that doesnt mean we need to like that brood of vipers, anymore than we suppose Paul was a fan of emperor Nero. Some theologians (rightly worried about the easy assimilation of comfortable Christianity to unquestioning patriotism) have for some time now advanced the view that a Christians identity is determined by belonging to the one global church of Jesus Christ and not at all by local loyalties of citizenship. How else are we to understand our spiritual fraternity and equal standing before God? Earthly political citizenship, by contrast, as distributed solely by geography of birth or forced migration, clearly marks some as winners and some as losers in the paths to flourishing ...
This devotional is a reminder that God works through us as his instruments in ways we dont choose. While there are many valuable things of research and teaching that God works through us in various ways, a primary mode of Gods work is easy to forget.
An Interview with Talbot's Dean, Dr. Clinton E. Arnold, and his son, Jeff Arnold, about their most recent book: Short Answers to Big Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity.
Voice of the Martyrs has offered an excellent idea for those who may be travelling during this Thanksgiving season or who might be looking for some special activities to do while gathered with families and friends.
The national pastime has become a sacred holiday: shopping on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving has developed into a manic state of sales and spending as retailers, seeking bigger holiday profits, offer new bargains and longer hours to lure holiday shoppers to good deals and great values on amazing products. The spending hype reaches fever pitch as stores open earlier and earlier each year, replacing the day dedicated to gratefulness with unashamed greed and giddiness for a purchase that is meant to show our love for another, bought in rushes of grabbing items that has led to fights, stampedes and debt. Many justify this intense season of shopping with the value of the purchase the money saved on an item they would buy at a higher price later indicates this was a good value-based purchase ...
臓Animo! Es una exclamaci坦n que todos necesitamos escuchar con frecuencia. A pesar de la presi坦n popular que nos obliga a mostrar siempre nuestra mejor cara y a declarar que siempre estamos bien cuando alguien nos hace la tan com炭n pregunta 多c坦mo est叩s?, la realidad es que todos batallamos con diferentes circunstancias y siempre necesitamos que alguien nos muestre su apoyo y nos anime. Es importante que tengamos personas cercanas que nos alienten a seguir adelante. 臓Todos necesitamos a alguien en nuestro equipo! ...
Every year, the week before Thanksgiving brings the annual scholarly conferences for biblical and theological studies. Like most years, 晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023 and Talbot professors and students are well represented at these meetings in a variety of ways ... The following list (mostly compiled by David Roberts) includes all those at 晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023 and Talbot participating in the meetings this year. As always, 晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023 professors and students are doing fascinating work in many different areas! ...
I came to Christ as a last resort after a year-long quest to find God back in 1975. With two thriving evangelical churches just a few blocks from my doorstep, why did I explore the Christian faith last instead of first? The cool factor, of course! I was a long-haired, pot-smoking keyboard player in a rock band. Eastern and New Age religion were spiritual and cool Christianity definitely was not ...
... Deeper than the recent history, we seem to be pushing against the same thing that Martin Luther identified as the theology of glory. Luther recommended to us the contrast of the theology of the cross ...
You know that part of your Bible where the gold leaf on the pages still looks pretty fresh? Some of the pages might still even be stuck together. Or, more au courant, the portion you rarely scroll to on your phone or iPad Thats right, for most of us its that part of the Bible starting right after Psalms and going all the way to Matthew. A lot of prophets big and little, and a good bit of Israels Wisdom traditionbut it just doesnt get a lot of air-time in most evangelical churches or personal Bible-reading. Now, Im the first to admit that last claim stems from my own highly subjective internal polling data, and Im glad to be proven wrong; but I dont think I am, because I know a good bit of its true in my own life ...
I believe that we are at a place in the history of the church where we need to have a vision for what we are seeking to produce in people through the ministries of the church. It can be increasingly difficult to maintain a simple focus on our main purpose to make disciples in light of the diverse needs of any church body and, therefore, it is easy to get caught up in the monster of ministry activity. I believe that we need to think more strategically in terms of what we are seeking to produce in a person and make this a focus for the church. Our biblical mandate is to present every person complete in Christ. What would this look like? Where should our sights be set? What should the life of disciple look like? ...
Seminary students are among the busiest people I know. Church + Family + School + Work makes for a challenging time of wise prioritizing. A Talbot professor back in the early 1980s gave his busy seminarians some pointed advice. He instructed us not to spend a lot of our time in local church ministry. This is your training time, he asserted, and seminary is where you need to focus for this season of your life. At the time it sounded like good advice. Now Im not so sure ...
晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023