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Preaching Tips

"We are sorry for the loss of your friend, and his courageous battle against cancer; but it is not interesting." I heard these words from a Pulitzer Prize winning poet at the University of Iowa a few years ago. It did not sound pastoral at the time. I have changed my mind. I think he is right. Our losses are not interesting. Even the loss of Jesus, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, is not interesting. It is…
Thom Fiet
February 1, 2008
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Christians in the Arabian Peninsula

The church is alive and well in the A rabian Peninsula. That is one of the truths I encountered upon becoming a pastor of the Protestant Church in Oman two years ago. In the land where Islam began, the Christian church prospers. Originally, Christians came to Arabia from Persia. The Nestorian Church established a bishopric in Sohar, Oman by 424 A D, but the rise of Islam 200 years later largely eclipsed the church for centuries. After 1,000 years passed,…
Edward H. Schreur
February 1, 2008
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The Guest Pastor

We begin with strangers. Seminaries and church communions vary in terms of how they prepare young men and young women to become preachers, but in most cases seminarians begin by serving as guest preachers (or "pulpit supply" as it has rather inelegantly been put in my denominational tradition) in local congregations. In my case, I was licensed to preach following my first full year of academic study at seminary. Looking over my record book, I see that from the time…
February 1, 2008
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Reformed Intramurals: What Neo-Calvinists Get Wrong

To a teenage boy growing up in post-Christian-before-the-term Seattle, the old Reformed Journal was a gift, like rain on dry ground. My predilection for that magazine shows either that theological persuasion is genetic, or that one can absorb far more theology than one might expect in a home far from the bastions of the Reformed world. Thinkers like Richard Mouw, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and others seemed so fresh and exciting, relevant and culturally engaged. At the time names like John Calvin,…
February 1, 2008
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In Reply

The editors of Perspectives invited me to respond to Steve Mathonnet-VanderWell's very interesting article, "Reformed Intramurals: What Neo-Calvinists Get Wrong." I happily accepted the invitation. I have found composing my response difficult, however, since there's little I disagree with and a simple "Amen," I feel sure, is not the response the editors were looking for. A vigorous "Nein" will have to come from someone else. Mathonnet-VanderWell recalls being inspired in his youth by the Reformed Journal. What inspired him was…
Nicholas Wolterstorff
February 1, 2008
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Saint Augustine’s “One Hundred and Eight Names for God”; “Resurrection Bird

FEBRUARY 2008: POETRY by Thom Satterlee One Hundred and Eight Names for God based on Hal M. Helms translation of The Confessions Some of them we've heard before-- Lord, Almighty, Omnipotent One. And others turn God into a pedant, even if that wasn't always a bad thing to be: Power That Weds My Mind with My Inmost Thought. But many, the best, are like a new birdcall: Beauty of All Things Beautiful, The One by Whom I Have Been Apprehended.…
Thom Satterlee
February 1, 2008
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Missing Peace

Peace has been marginalized in the study of the New Testament. That is Willard Swartley's claim not only in his clever subtitle but also in the introduction to this valuable work. And he documents this claim in an appendix that analyzes a number of significant works in New Testament theology and ethics. In the body of the book he attempts to correct that deficiency, displaying the central significance of "peace" in the New Testament. Swartley exposits the understanding of peace…
James Daane
February 1, 2008
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Christ Set at Nought

James Daane Everyman toils to amount to something, and then toils more to add something to the amount. In the interest of the increase, Everyman strains his body and stretches his mind, and even bends his ethics and compromises his convictions. Everyman has a reputation to build. And the building must be constantly enlarged as a protection against the rival successes of his like-minded fellows. To become Somebody, Everyman must toil relentlessly. And thus it is that Everyman becomes a…
James Daane
February 1, 2008
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Liberals in Search of a Bigger Theology

These two books have urgent agendas. In their own way, each attempts to articulate an alternative theological voice to that of fundamentalist Christianity, which quite systematically seeks to drown out other Christian perspectives and dominate national and international politics. Both authors embrace the task with boldness, theological integrity, and thoughtful, substantive cultural critiques. Jan G. Linn's Big Christianity is a rallying cry for liberals to claim their identity as Christians first, and to proactively and positively frame their own beliefs…
Carol Cook
January 16, 2008