The more determined men become to despise the teaching of Christ, the more zealous should godly ministers be to assert it and the more strenuous their efforts to preserve entire. And more than that, by their diligence to ward off Satan’s attack. John Calvin My study of same-sex and heterosexual attraction kept asserting that the… Read More Hello, I must be going, 6
Larry Alex Taunton—founder and executive director of Fixed Point Foundation—has a helpful article in The Atlantic on their recent study of college-aged atheists in the U.S. They were surprised by the composite picture that emerged from these interviews, which he summarizes later in the article: They had attended church Most of our participants had not… Read More Lessons for a stronger Christianity
The Diocese of New Jersey elected its 12th Bishop on May 4th. Although the progress of the election and ballots fell out exactly as I had described it in our parish open forum, the Bishop elect was relatively unknown to me. So when I returned home and after a well-earned mug of tea, I had… Read More “Stoking” the boiler
This past week I went to my first Acts29NJ church planters conference at Emergence Church, Totowa NJ about 18 – 20 minutes from where I grew up. The plenary and discussions got my mind working as I sought to apply what I learned from these planters and what I have experienced in ministry these 22… Read More Musical Tone
This is a tale of two Richards: George Richards and Richard Rohr. George Richards was a minister in the Reformed Church in the USA in the late teens/early twenties of the last century. He was the chairman of the American Council on Organic Union, what became the twentieth-century ecumenical movement. Richard Rohr is a present-day… Read More A Tale of Two Richards
As the succession gap of generations continues to grow between nominal Christians and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who’ve abandoned Christianity, it is now increasingly common for us to have visitors who have no idea what is going on in our service. It’s not just that there are unfamiliar elements such as the corporate confession… Read More The Generation Gap
Sometimes, when a person is getting to know me, I am asked if there is anything about England I miss. It used to be the beer, but with the changes in American brewing, I now can get cask-conditioned ale as good as the barrels of home brew drawn from the mash that I made in… Read More Bicycle Days
Before the deluge of preparation for Holy Week and Easter an online offer from my seminary bookstore of Don Carson’s latest book The Intolerance of Tolerance caught my eye. It could not be more timely. It’s an important book written in Carson’s brisk style and a fast read. Try a PDF of the first 30 pages of… Read More That New Time Religion?
F-Troop was a satirical western television situation comedy series of the 1960’s. One of the recurring word plays that marked its humor (along with burlesque, slapstick and visual gags) was the directions from the Hekawis encampment, the local Native American tribe, to Fort Courage the home of F-Troop: “Turn left at the big rock that looks… Read More Bear Signs
This past week George Conger wrote in The Church of England Newspaper on the recent report by the statisticians of The Episcopal Church to our Executive Council. You can read the article here. The report catalogues a 10 year decline in all quantifiable areas. I want you to take note of how “These speak to… Read More “The Doctor” is in
The Vicar's Garden 