The Little Friar

John Michael Talbot's new book, The Ancient Path:  Old Lessons from the Church Fathers for a New Life Today , is my favorite of his twenty-six books.  Known more for his music -- his collaboration with Michael Card will forever remain my favorite contemporary Christian CD -- it was his Music of Creation book that brought me to appreciate the depth and breath of JMT's spiritual theology.  And I've been excited for each new book he's released over the past 15 years.  The Ancient Path doesn't disappoint, either. Talbot, along with well-known Catholic writer and speaker Mike Aquilina, weave the autobiographical moments within the context of JMT's discovery of the early Church Fathers.  One might be tempted to think this would produce an uneven work, but I can assure you this is the best spiritual autobiography that I've read in some years. Chapter 4 is worth the price of the book alone.  In Chapter 4, Talbot relates how he was first introduced to th...

I was reading Charles Lamb's essay, " A Quaker's Meeting ", this morning.  It's a playful meditation on the benefits of communal silence, as opposed to private silence -- something that most of our liturgical services these days know so little of.  Particularly our "contemporary services".  (In so many ways Lamb's reflections remind me of Bonhoeffer's wisdom in Life Together .) "Give me a sympathetic solitude!"  Charles Lamb  is not very famous anymore, which is a shame because he is quite wonderful, a great humorist with a good heart.  He was once described as "the most loveable figure in English literature" -- a laughable exaggeration given the existence of Boswell's Dr Johnson .  But being the second-most-loveable person in English literature is still a pretty good claim to fame. I doubt many of my church history friends even remember Lamb anymore, and much less anyone appreciate his spiritual wisdom.  But i...

It's quite appropriate, I think, that my 1000th post should deal with this issue.  Yesterday I wrote a piece about the nature of biblical truth and facticity that brought a reader to ask this question:  "You seem to be hinting that you don't believe in creation science.  But doesn't the vast amount of creation science confirm what read in Genesis 1?  Doesn't that support the Bible's truth and trustworthiness?" First, let me be honest:  "Creation science" certainly aims to support Genesis 1.  And it succeeds in certain places.  But I think its greatest weakness is that it ignores the readings of Genesis 1 that make the most literary and theological sense.  There are many "creation research" organizations, with many different methodologies, so the following evaluation of their methodology may not apply to every organization out there.  But it tries to describe a trend I have seen repeatedly in the reasoning of these organiz...

I have a confession to make.  I read Fifty Shades of Grey when it was released.  I did so precisely because it was so popular.  I've read my share of trashy novels, but the luster of hot literary lust lost its appeal as I grew older.  I read it only because the female friends I have were reading it and talking about it.  I found I was able to participate in conversations about redemptive sex precisely because I'd taken the novel seriously. That said, I thought the novel was horrible.  It was so poorly written, with little literary variety and value.  Its imagery was cold, the writing was poor and the plot was predictable.  Aware as I was of so many other books -- remember, I've read my share of trashy novels -- I just couldn't bring myself to read the second or third books in the series.  But I have read the first book. And I'm still not going to see the movie -- precisely because I know what's in the book. I've never really said any...

This week's installment of "Ask Me Anything Wednesday": It really bothers me how you read the Bible, especially the parts that I always thought had to be read historically and truthfully, as if they aren't historical.  How do you decide which ones are true and which ones aren't? In order for me to get at an answer, let me rephrase the question this way:  "Where do I get to read the Bible in the way I grew up reading it?" Because my answer is really another question:  "Why not learn to read it even better, more faithfully?" Let me illustrate.  If I taught the Bible to my children (if we had children) as (1) a fairy tale, or (2) as a myth illustrating the universal truths of human religion in their Christian form, or (3) as the product of an oppressive, superstitious society that passed away forever with the Enlightenment, or (4) as a document containing nothing but literal scientific and historical detail, then they would grow up...

Recently, someone shared this on Facebook: There are several things that bother me about this picture. What it's meant to do, mostly, is to undermine the logical consistency of nonviolence.  It's meant to underwrite the idea that violence, by its very essence, is logically necessary.  We simply can't live without it.  To be human is to be violent.  So the picture poses a scenario in which a person like me -- that is to say a nonviolent pacifist -- can only vindicate violence when it hits close to home.  That we can't logically defend the idea of nonviolence in the face of a knife or gun. But, like I said, the picture bothers me for several reasons. First, it assumes that there are only two principal actors in any scenario.  This is a fault of modern Enlightenment thinking:  It's too individualistic.  Because it assumes that relationships between parties -- in this case, me and the guy with the knife -- play out in mechanistic ways....

When God in Jesus Christ claims space in the world -- even space in a stable because 'there was no other place in the inn' -- God embraces the whole reality of the world in this narrow space and reveals its ultimate foundation.  So also the church of Jesus Christ is the place [ Ort ] -- that is, the space [ Raum ] -- in the world where the reign of Jesus Christ over the whole world is to be demonstrated and proclaimed.  This space of the church does not, therefore, exist just for itself, but its existence is already always something that reaches far beyond it.  The space of the church is not there in order to fight with the world for a piece of its territory, but precisely to testify to the world that it is still the world, namely, the world that is loved and reconciled by God.  It is not true that the church intends to or must spread its space out over the space of the world.  It desires no more space than its needs to serve the world with its wi...

When we eat food we take something from outside out body and incorporate it into our body.  What was once something distinct from our body becomes a part of it.  However, the Eucharist meal does something very weird and backwards. "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf" (1 Cor 10.17).  When Christians share in the Eucharist we eat bread and, of course, it becomes a part of our bodies.  But in the process, the bread -- the body of Christ -- also consumes us.  By partaking of the body of Christ we are united to that body and are constituted as part of it. That is, to say the least, very strange!

The practice of biblical Sabbath is, as Walter Brueggemann has suggested , a resistance to the principalities and powers of the world.  If you give up on the capitalistic and consumerist "rat race", in order to nurture the physical and psychological resources to fuel further resistance , making us increasingly available for both community and prophetic ministry, I guarantee you'll get noticed in our culture. Because you'll feel the shame involved in not keeping up.  Make no doubt about it, Sabbath is spiritual warfare.  With the rise of capitalism our culture has been infected by what Alain de Botton has called "status anxiety".  Which is to say, shame is the fuel of capitalism.   Capitalism feeds off of this neurotic anxiety, using fear to create wealth and abundance but leaving us physically exhausted, psychologically broken and spiritually depleted.  Which is why we call it the "rat race". Conservative Christians like to think tha...

It Was Me All Along:  A Memoir is unlike any other weight loss book I've ever seen.  While most are quick to get to the weight loss victory, Mitchell has given us a book free of weight shaming or condemnation.  It doesn't take the quick road to victory.  Instead, she has given us a story of suffering and survival, of coping and coming to grips, accepting being "the fat girl" and then making lasting changes.  Being fat is really misunderstood in our culture.  A person's size might be more of an indication of deeper problems and is a cloak of protection as it was for Andie.  "I built walls around myself with bricks of cake, using frosting as a mortar" (p. 68).  Just like in food writing, often food is the conduit through which to talk about deeper truths.  Unlike alcohol, food addiction isn't something one can abstain from consuming entirely. And it's here that Mitchell's story will mirror so many others.  Weight often accompani...

John Maxwell's Leadership Handbook:  26 Critical Lessons Every Leader Needs is a collection, as the title suggests, of 26 "lessons", or short chapters.  But beware, these chapters are not for quick reading.  These lessons demand methodical study for any leader. And what they contain is ever-practical advice regarding leadership.  Having the knowledge is great, but wisdom is to be found in the application of what you read.  That's particularly true here. Maxwell suggests that leaders read one chapter each week.  And experienced leaders should take two weeks for each read.  I think that's fine advice. Maxwell hammers home some major points for leaders to know and understand as you go through this leadership-improvement process.  I'll leave those to readers, but as a foretaste, some ideas from his Introduction:  (1) leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk, (2) leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality, (3) ...

Being from East Tennessee, I'm a sucker for a good story, complete with the drama of clans.  So I'll begin with a quote from the Didache :  "There are two ways: a way of life and a way of death, and the difference between these two ways is great".  I was asked today what makes Scripture, Scripture , particularly in light of the well-intentioned criticisms that I make about the so-called violence of the Old Testament.  What I outlined when asked was what I call a "kerygmatic hermeneutic", or otherwise called "the hermeneutics of life". Here's what I mean. A "kerygmatic hermeneutic" is one that begins with the confession that Jesus is "Lord and Christ" (Acts 2.36).  Only when we've made that confession do we then begin to read the Law, Prophets, Writings, and even the rest of the New Testament.  The confession -- the kerygma , or proclamation, as Peter and Paul and the rest call it -- is fundamental.  It comes first....

As I sit this morning, gazing out the office window, I realize how significant the confession of our faith:  "I believe in God:  The Father, almighty creator of heaven and earth".  That confession was perhaps the first as a child to explode my theological imagination.  I mean, think about it, that's perhaps the most radical of theological claims to emerge out of the Old Testament and find its confirmation in Jesus' own teaching. I realized this yesterday when preaching the graciousness of God.  I'll spare you the details of the sermon, but in looking yet again at Jonah, I realized just how big a confession it is to claim that God is the "maker of all that is, seen and unseen". Once Israel began to see YHWH as the Covenant God who creates everything, there's a destabilization of various theological arrangements and settlements.  God is not simply some tribal god, and hence a god who works against the attempts to capture and tame God. At the ...

This is a question I found myself asking again this morning.  I preached a sermon that found me asking whether I owed God an apology.  Now that I've had the afternoon to stop and think how I might answer that question, I've come up with a few ideas: Exegetical insight -- the "I didn't know I didn't know that" moment   Theological depth -- people want to talk about God, not what the preacher did last week   Liturgical awareness -- always keeping in view the place of the sermon in the life of the Church Connection -- relevance and resonance   Passion and persuasion -- help me feel the joy of the Gospel Exegetical insight I read two texts this morning.  On most other Sundays, we read three texts and respond with a psalm.  Congregations assume we do that for a reason.  The preacher's first task, I think, is to make that reason clear.  That's not done by recapitulating what they just heard ("In today's reading Jesus is ...") u...

Hi Qi, "Jesus Calling the Fisherman" For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken. How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence? Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; i...

There are doubtless other ways of understanding our Lord's words, Why ask me about the good?  No one is good but the one God (Matt 19:17).  Provided however they do not favor belief that the Son's substance, by which he is the Word through whom all things were made (John 1:3), is of a lesser goodness than the Father's, and are not otherwise at odds with sound doctrine, we may cheerfully use not merely one interpretation but as many as can be found.   For the more ways we open up of avoiding the traps of heretics, the more effectively can they be convinced of their errors. -- Augustine, De Trinitate I.31

Shepherding God's Flock:  Biblical Leadership in the New Testament and Beyond is a collection of essays intended to "take a step back and to consider what the Scriptures teach about leadership".  The recurring theme -- that of the pastor as shepherd -- aims to demonstrate what the biblical notion of church leadership looks like.  So the ultimate goal and rationale for Shepherding God's Flock is both a justification and a guide for a specific view of leadership in the local church. Benjamin L. Merkle and Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament scholars at Southeastern and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, respectively, grant up front that this work is written by contributors who are confessional Baptists, and thus "are convinced that the Baptist understanding of church government comports with the Scriptures".  With that in mind, the first four chapters highlight the biblical notions of "elder" and "shepherd" in an attempt to offe...

For this week's "Ask Me Anything": Does the Bible really affirm the ordination of women? This is honestly a difficult argument to make, because several biblical passages seem to argue against it.  Then again, that Gentile believers may be righteous apart from observing the Law of Moses was an even more difficult argument to make, since many more biblical passages (including some in the New Testament) seem to argue against that.  However, the first generations of Christians made it.  A difficult line of reasoning may still be the right one. Of all the New Testament's writers, it is Paul (and those who may have written in his name) who is most directly responsible for both the limitations the Church has put on the participation of women in leadership and liturgy, and the insights through which those limitations have increasingly been removed. Some Christians believe Paul must be sidelined or overturned in order for women to be ordained.  In some ci...

Ernst Wiechert's Tidings is a novel that's not for the faint-of-heart.  But it's also a genuine treasure that deserves a place among some of the great books of twentieth-century literature. The novel depicts Baron Amadeus von Liljercons, who works as one of the best literary portraits of a nation's conscience -- in this case, Germany during and immediately following Nazism.  At the end of the War, the Baron returns home from a concentration camp, to his former estate, only to discover its occupation by American soldiers. Wiechert served five months in 1938 in Buchenwald, and the Baron's difficulties in adjusting to a life of freedom in a shepherd's hut, are undoubtedly related.  It's the world that the Baron returns to -- that Wiechart himself returned to -- that is the real genius of Tidings .  The guilt and reconciliation that are the heart of the story make this one of the best narratives of what a genuine Christian theology of forgiveness might ...

Easter Stories:  Classic Tales for the Holy Season is a collection of short stories for all ages. All of the stories in this collection share the rich Christian imagery of life through death.  In a world that co-opts Easter for stories of the Easter Bunny and painted eggs, Easter Stories contains the best collection of stories for Lent and Easter imagery that I've ever read.  Included here are short stories from CS Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, Clarence Jordan, Selma Lagerlof, Oscar Wilde, Elizabeth Goudge, Maxim Gorky, Ruth Sawyer, Walter Wangerin, among others.  My favorite of the collection is from Andre Tocme, "How Donkeys Got the Spirit of Contradiction". The book opens with a poem written by Jane Tyson Clement, "Carol of Hope".  It sets the tone for the book.  And the original woodcuts by Lisa Toth make this a collection for younger ages, too. Easter Stories is a book for families, to read and share year after year.  It a real treasure for Chris...