The Little Friar

I'm always leery of accounts of the demonic that are so popular in our culture.  They typically succumb to excessive spiritual sensationalism and apply an over-obvious appeal to the reader's sense of spiritual voyeurism.  So I came to Friedrich Zuendel's The Awakening with a great deal of theological suspicion and reticence.  The story is from 1841, and contains Zuendel's -- a Swiss pastor -- account of the bizarre events surrounding Gottlievin Dittus.  While one of his intentions is the historical defense of the events surrounding Blumhardt and Gottlievin Dittus, he obviously intends to speak to the issue of the church's reaction to extreme instances of spiritual warfare and unusual movements of the Holy Spirit as well. He handles that account with humility and theological and personal sensitivity.  Zuendel's use of Blumhardt's letters from the time not only lend credence to the alleged events, but also paint a picture of a very careful pastor w...

A new book in the Refraction Collection, Transcending Mysteries: Who is God and What Does He Want From Us? hopes to address the confusion so many Christians have in how to read the Old Testament and connect that reading to Jesus. Using a Bible translation from Thomas Nelson -- The Voice -- Transcending Mysteries takes readers on a tour of Old Testament stories.  I'll overlook what seems to be an odd choice for translation for the Old Testament texts themselves (there's good reasons to be critical of The Voice translation, but that's for another day).  Transcending Mysteries still offers a generous collection, in eight chapters -- of Old Testament texts that open what's often inaccessible in ways that even those who are outside the Church might find intriguing. That's because Transcending Mysteries is really a conversation between two scholars that deal with their frustrations and triumphs in reading these Old Testament texts.  After that dialogue, the ...

In recent days, the question of how I read the Bible keeps coming up in a variety of conversations.  While I've touched on this already on my blog in a number of places, maybe it's time to spell it out in as simple a terms as I can. 1.  Genres The Bible, like any other text, is written according to certain historical and literary categories.  To deny this is to deny the very historicity of the Bible itself (something that neither liberals nor conservatives are willing to do).  The Bible is filled with all sorts of genres from all sorts of historical periods -- letters, laws, wisdom, apocalyptic, prophecy, story, parable.  Recognizing what sort of biblical genre you're reading is absolutely imperative for what I think is a "literal" reading.  We don't expect parables to relay historical information, or proverbs to read as if they're legal texts. Recognizing the various ancient  genres of our  ancient  Bible is greatly aided by our abil...

In the early 1950s a man named Clarence Jordan founded an interracial farm in Georgia called the Koinonia Community, which at the time was a very foolish and dangerous thing to do.  He asked his brother Robert, a lawyer, to act as counsel for the farm.  "Clarence", Robert said, "I can't do that.  You know my political aspirations.  If I represented you, I might lose my job, my house, everything I've got." Clarence, not one to miss a theological response, said:  " We might lose everything, too". "It's different for you", Robert responded. "Why is it different?"  And Clarence went on to remind his brother how, when they were baptised, they were asked:  "Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?"  "What did you say, Robert?" Robert paused, and then said, "I follow Jesus -- up to a point." "Could that point by any chance be -- the cross?" his brother challenged ...

We don't think about self-deception much in our culture. But the Bible does.  For example: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17.9) The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, "Who can bring me down to the ground?" (Obadiah 1.3) If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  (Galatians 6.3). In the past warnings regarding self-deception were common.  Now, though, we talk about being "authentic" and "true to ourselves" in a way that insists there's not really a way we might be deceiving ourselves. And it's odd.  Because the research -- not to mention the simple daily experience -- would tell us how very inauthentic that is. And we Christians seem to be among the worst at this. Christians worry about a great many vices but we rarely warn against self-...

We're hopefully coming to the end of what's been one of the coldest winters I can remember.  Between the ice and snow storms, it's been a long, chilly, snowy winter. So, one of the things I'm hearing lately is, "So much for global warming!" to which I respond right away, "Climate change doesn't mean 'always warmer', just 'always weirder'."  I'm tired of people regarding one day's weather, or one location's season of weather, as a putative rebuttal to the mountains of data from around the world -- though that does help explain a number of other political phenomena. So, no, Mr Trump, this winter isn't an argument against global warming .  In fact, it's precisely the kind of thing we'd expect to see.

Joan Chittister's Between the Dark and the Daylight:  Embracing the Contradictions of Life is one of those books that spiritual directors like myself find reading, marking, digesting, and referring over and over again.  It's such a wonderful account of a Christian spiritual wholeness involves embracing the contradictions of life.  A good life involves consciously embracing whole of our human experience -- even the shadows and tensions of life, what have classically been called "dark nights of the soul".  Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and the Christian spiritual life is the journey of growth that is such growth in Christ.  Jesus' uniqueness came through his hospitality toward others and himself; his willingness to face the dark side of his culture and himself.  And Chittister's beautiful little book highlights many of the ways we moderns might engage the life of Christ in our own living. Life is filled with polarities, but a Christian who grows in...

This Sunday's lectionary series includes Psalm 22.  It's not an easy psalm to pray.  Because the once place most of us know this psalm from is the line that Jesus quotes on the cross:  "Why have you forsaken me?" (verse 1). That line has spun so much bad theology.  Witness Anselm's "satisfaction" theory of the atonement. So what's one to do with this psalm -- well before Good Friday, I should add. Fortunately, the psalm itself helps.  Because the psalm culminates in this line: ... did not despise the suffering of the afflicted one (or the poverty of the poor); nor turn away from me, but heard when I cried (v. 24). That, my friends, is the answer to the question posed in verse 1.  And I maintain that it's the answer Jesus called into the minds of his hearers when he asked that question from the cross.  Because the cry of the cross issues in the call of Easter: All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;    ...

It goes without saying that Psalm 23 is the most famous psalm.  Perhaps the most famous text in the whole of the Bible.  There's no telling how often I've read this psalm -- either as part of daily prayer or in worship or at the mass of the dead.  And I keep coming back to a question:  What is it about Psalm 23 that so captivates our religious imaginations? No doubt it is due to the imagery of the loving shepherd caring for the sheep.  But there's also a subtle shift in the poem that enhances its emotional intimacy and potency.  But it's a subtle shift.  Can you see it? The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare...

It's fascinating to me that so many folks are invested in defending the recently-released Fifty Shades of Grey movie. I'm not sure there's ever been one single event that brings together feminists, the BDSM community, and conservative Christians (like Focus on the Family) as this movie.  Their concerns really boil down to two: That Fifty Shades is "soft porn" and shouldn't be released to a wide audience. That the story glamorizes domestic abuse patterns. There are plenty of blog articles out there that dissect why so many women -- both inside and outside the Church -- are flocking to see this movie (and why the books have equally divided among Christians and non-Christians, to the tune of 70 million).  Secular and religious experts are focusing on the implications of the movie for our rape culture, feminism, the innate human need for love, and the search for the Divine as explanations of popularity. But that's not what strikes me about it.  I ...

Abyssenian Baptist Church in Harlem During the year he lived in the United States (1930) Bonhoeffer attended and taught Sunday School at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.  It was there at Abyssinian Baptist where Bonhoeffer encountered the gospel and spiritual songs of African-American tradition.  Before leaving the US Bonhoeffer bought a crate of albums of African-American spirituals. This collection became one of Bonhoeffer's most prized possessions and featured prominently in his pastoral ministry.  Bonhoeffer played this music to poor working-class German children in his confirmation class, to his youth group in London, to his college students in Berlin and to the seminarians at Finkenwalde. To quote Bonhoeffer: The most influential contribution made by the Negro to American Christianity lies in the "Negro Spirituals," in which the distress and delivery of the people of Israel ("Go down, Moses . . ."), the misery and consolation of t...

It's difficult to find a good Bible from which to preach.  After all, most study Bibles are complete with notes that blur the lines between text and commentary.  And nearly all Bibles that contain references put those references in the middle of the page, thereby dividing the text into columns.  Instead of reading -- as most English books do -- from left to right, these translations read in columns. So I was excited to find The NIV Proclamation Bible , in hopes that this need would be addressed. First, what sets this Bible apart. The translation utilized is that of the NIV11 -- the 2011 translation that addresses a number of the problematic translations in the NIV from the 1980s.  There's a more-balanced concern with gender inclusive language here, in a way that is faithful to the original text, even while making that text accessible to twenty-first century ears. And the introductory material offers a unique way of studying the text that avoids some of thos...

"Let your yes be yes and your no be no" (Matthew 5.37). Jesus said this.  Sitting on a hillside, delivering his Sermon on the Mount. This phrase is on my mind tonight because it seems we Christians aren't so great at this. I've had a few experiences lately with folks who love God.  They deeply care for the Church.  They follow Jesus.  But these particular words of description of disciples seem quite problematic. We all have issues (me more than most), but these folks have simply not been letting their yes be yes and their no be no.  It's not like they've had the intention of lying to me, but it will go something like, "I'll email you by the end of the week" and the end of the week comes and there is no email from them in my inbox.  Or, "Let's set up a conference call towards the end of next week", and the end of next week rolls along and I don't hear from them.  Or my favorite, "Let's set up a time in the ...

Christians don't lament well.  I'm more convinced of this all the time.  We know how to complain but not so much how to lament.  We lack the training in it for certain, but, even when we try we can't muster any energy for it without guilt.  Guilt because we think we should have a cheerier disposition as evidence of our faith.  Everything will be okay because God's "in control", right?  We suspect that lament shows a lack of faith. Guilt is not our only hang-up.  I once spoke to a group of university students about Christian responses to evil, and I suggested that our first response is silence, followed by lament.  I couldn't read everyone’s response, the evening crowd had swelled beyond the capacity of the recital hall, but follow-up conversations showed another hindrance to lament:  The perception of inactivity.  Lament seemed too inactive, too passive for my advocacy-minded students.  Where is the courage in lament?  Wher...

Theology is (often slanderous) talk about God. Perhaps the one thing we humans do that's the most hilarious:  Thinking we know what we're doing.  We humans are nothing if not stupid. Some people proudly proclaim "Jesus saved me!" -- in a way that most resembles having a winning scratch-off lottery ticket.  And we all know how well lottery winners keep what they've won.  After watching last night's Duke-UNC game, I made a revelation about preaching:  Sermons are often lost or won in the last five minutes. You might say that in Jesus God learned to speak the language of humans.  Fluency, however, failed him:  He never did get the grammar of violence. Consider American Sniper:  Why was this not filmed at the Coliseum? Consider Fifty Shades of Grey :  Why was this not filmed in a dungeon? If Americans were honest about the Great Commission, it'd read:  "And Jesus came and said to them:  'All power is given on heaven and earth t...

Virginia Willis is no stranger to the culinary world.  A regular for her cooking blog, Down-Home Comfort , a regular on the Cooking Channel and the Food Channel, as well as a contributing editor for Southern Comfort , she's appeared on CNN and Food52.  So when Willis writes about "Southern Cooking", people listen.  And her newest book, Lighten Up Y'all:  Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy & Wholesome , is a real treat for those of us who love that southern cooking tradition and its comfort foods. Lighten Up Y'all is all about making classic Southern recipes healthy and wholesome.  In a major push to drop a few pounds and lighten up her own diet, Virginia insists that it's important for those who want a new lifestyle to still find their food delicious.  The result of her conviction is Lighten Up Y'all -- a new collection of soul-satisfying food made for a new healthy lifestyle.  She covers all the classics, too:  Southern Style Shepher...

Augustine , Luther , Wesley , Barth -- all began with Romans.  Bonhoeffer began with the Sermon on the Mount. For Bonhoeffer, Jesus' commanding power is the heart of the Gospel. That's why I read more Bonhoeffer than I do Barth.

Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, Lord. We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord. We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives, We confess to you, Lord. Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, We confess to you, Lord. Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves, We confess to you, Lord. Our intemperate love of worl...

One of the key pastoral tasks is to work and proclaim the Gospel in the midst of some of the worst human moments of suffering.  I think, for example, of my student days and working as a pastoral counselor on the children's oncology wing.  Ours is a world that has so many voices speaking in those moments:  Doctors who hold out a hope connected to machines and medicines, a culture that believes only when we live without pain are we really living.  So learning to listen to God's word in Christ is the key pastoral work -- whether in preaching or in pastoral care. And Blumhardt's Thy Will Be Done:  Sickness, Faith, and the God Who Heals is one of those voices who knows how to speak loud truth above all those other voices.  Because this book speaks Jesus. Jesus alone is the "glory of God" in whom our hope is placed.  Jesus alone is our joy in the midst of suffering, because he alone is our perseverance.  That's why Blumhardt begins this collectio...

40 Questions about Creation and Evolution is part of the ongoing series from Kregel Academic, "40 Questions about ..."  So this book came to my attention with certain expectations that it might deal with complicated questions in an easy-to-read way. And the book did not disappoint that expectation. Keathley and Rooker have given us a book that's remarkable in scope and fair and objective in its presentation of a variety of answers to these 40 questions.  The authors confess that they "lean" in different directions:  Keathley to old-earth creationism and Rooker to young-earth creationism.  But those intellectual commitments only further the book's variety in meaningful ways. There are a variety of questions dealt with in 40 Questions about Creation and Evolution .  What are the "days" of creation in Genesis 1?  What is the Gap theory?  How old is the earth?  Was the universe (including the earth) created with an appearance of age? ...