A Fresh Perspective

Why did Jesus teach the way he did? Why did he tell stories and say provocative, even shocking things to give his hearers pause? Remember, Jesus’ culture was an oral culture and most of his hearers would not have been able to read and write. His sayings were designed to be memorable – so they would not be easily forgotten. They were intended to shake things up and knock his hearers off their heels so that they would be open to seeing God and the world and their place in it differently. We all know all too well how we are influenced and shaped by the mores, values, customs, and practices of our culture. We are all to some degree children of our culure. None of us escape the influence and impact of our culture – for good or bad. And our culture has a way of putting us asleep spiritually. Business as usual and common speech will not jar us awake. We need a jolt. Jesus’ words and deeds were designed to be jolting. Jesus zeroed in on common assumptions and practices that he felt ...

Life is good. Life is hard. Sometimes life is more good than hard. Sometimes life is more hard than good. Many of us live our lives in a context where we experience some degree of both. There are people, however, who face such overwhelming hardships and difficulties in life that their trials overshadow what goodness there is. This inequity and imbalance is due to two realities. One, it’s due to the randomness of life, which we cannot do much about. We have no control over many of the circumstances that affect our lives. That’s one factor. The second reason is due to the injustice and evil in the world, which we can do something about if we are willing. I believe the Psalmist captures something of the longing of God when he says that God wants to forgive all our sins and heal all our diseases. Of course, we know that many do not experience God’s forgiveness because their hearts are closed to it and we certainly know that all our diseases are not healed. But I believe this expresses...

In both the canonical literature (Proverbs) and in the Apocrypha (Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon) divine wisdom is personified as Lady Wisdom (the Greek word for wisdom is the feminine noun sophia). Lady Wisdom/Sophia is described with divine attributes and characteristics. In Proverbs 8:22-31 she was the first thing created and participated with God in the creation of the world and is now present everywhere. In the Wisdom of Solomon she is described as “a spotless mirror of the working of God and an image of his goodness.” She “pervades and penetrates all things.” This is the same language used in the prologue/introduction of the Gospel of John. The language of Lady Wisdom is used to talk about the Word (Logos) that “became flesh.” This Word/Wisdom is the light that is in all people (John 1:4) and enlightens everyone (John 1:9). This same language is applied to Christ in Colossians 1:15-20 who is described “as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (this is rig...

In my little book, Being a Progressive Christian (is not) for Dummies (nor for know-it-alls) , I share a story to draw a distinction between acts of mercy and acts of justice. They are not the same thing. Once there was a town built just beyond the bend of a large river. One day some of the children from the town were playing beside the river when they noticed three bodies floating in the water. They ran for help and the townsfolk quickly pulled the bodies out of the river. One person was dead, so they buried that one. One was alive, but very sick, so they put that person in the hospital. The third turned out to be a healthy child, who they placed with a family that cared for the child and took the child to school. From that day forward, a number of bodies came floating down the river and every day, the good people of the town would pull them out and tend to them—taking the sick to the hospital, placing children with families, and burying those who were dead. This went...

Christian, Baptist, Evangelical? Just call me a Jesus follower (then again, maybe not) OPINION CHUCK QUEEN   |  AUGUST 9, 2016 Baptist historian Bill Leonard, in his brilliantly insightful way, recently called attention  to the multiple problems in identifying as an evangelical today. What does it mean to be an evangelical? Leonard shared how a “religiously unaffiliated” friend asked him, “Aren’t you evangelicals just the Republican party at prayer?” Leonard points out that with over 75 percent of self-identified evangelicals deciding to vote for Trump the term has been emptied of its historical significance. Dr. Leonard is content to simply be known as a Christian and a Baptist. But what do these terms mean in today’s topsy-turvy religious world? Click here to read full article at Baptist News Global

Maybe you heard about the lay preacher that often traveled to little churches around the countryside and preached. He always gave his regular offering to his home church, but it was also his custom to put a little something in the offering plate where he preached. There was no offering taken that morning but he noticed an offering box in the back, so as he and his young son who accompanied him that Sunday left the church after the service he dropped a five dollar bill in the offering box.   As they made their way to the car one of the deacons came running after him.   “Wait a minutes preacher,” he said, “it’s our custom to give the preacher what is received in the offering box” and he handed him a five dollar bill. As they drove off, his young son said, “Dad, if you would have given more, you would have gotten more, wouldn’t you?”   Is that true? If you give more, you will get more? The prosperity preachers who are getting rich off the gifts of their perishioners wou...