Specks, Logs, and the Need for Consistency
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Mt. 7:1–3, ESV) I serve as an adjunct instructor in philosophy at a local community college. Of late, I’ve been teaching World Religions, a course that many students take to...
Church Revitalization: Myths and Realities
Evangelicals have been having an extensive conversation about church health and renewal for nearly fifteen years. This conversation occurs under the banner of many names, but none more common than revitalization. Search online and you’ll be inundated with titles, seminars, and words like revitalize, renew, reclaim, restore, and even resuscitate. Free Will Baptists have also joined the fray through investing in revitalization...
On Writing
I suppose I’ve been writing in a serious way for a dozen years. I’m not considering the occasional article during college or the many research papers I had to write in high school or college. After all, everyone writes—if only to make the grade. Even the shorter little pieces for a local newspaper or denominational publication were, more than anything, testing the waters: Can I write anything that’s worth reading? The jury is...
Book Reflection: The Making of Stanley Hauerwas
Recently I read The Making of Stanley Hauerwas, a book adapted from David Hunsicker’s doctoral dissertation. Hunsicker is a Presbyterian minister in Alabama and former theology professor. Published dissertations usually aren’t a type of reading material that gets me very excited, but the subject matter of this one intrigued me. For the last thirty years, Stanley Hauerwas has been among the most discussed and debated theologians in the...
Pastoral Ministry in the COVID-19 Season
I often think of pastoral ministry as occurring in seasons. Each season of the year creates a unique dynamic in the church calendar. Yet we could also think of seasons as times of sowing, watering, and reaping. That Scriptural principle describes the world of agriculture. But I mean “season” in a broader sense. During most seasons of ministry, pastors do the normal work of praying for others, studying for sermons, leading meetings,...
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