I believe now, and have always believed, that women should be free to use the gifts the Holy Spirit gives them as the Holy Spirit guides them. The governing principle isn't gender, it's "use your freedom in ways that build up the body." "Your sons & daughters will prophesy" doesn't have a caveat: "Unless it's … Continue reading Wade Burleson: Women Teaching the Bible
Author: plstepp
Stillness & Being
The picture is an iPhone pano of the scene I've been staring at for the past hour; the Adriatic Sea off Rovinj, Croatia. The picture doesn't do justice to Rovinj, one of my favorite places on earth, and a truly beautiful city. But I think it captures something of the immenseness & the always-changing yet … Continue reading Stillness & Being
Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance, pt 3: “Justice”
(I originally published this 2+ years ago. I am republishing it as part of my discussion of corporate sin and repentence.) Scapegoating and Othering Othering is a process that we as individuals or groups use to separate someone from us, to draw barriers that mark them as different and exclude them. We usually other people for … Continue reading Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance, pt 3: “Justice”
Godin on Organizational Resilience
If you're not listening to Seth Godin's Akimbo, you're missing some of the best material available on leadership, marketing, creativity, etc. Every week, this is the most brilliant stuff on the internet. Godin recently dropped an episode on organizational resilience, "Supple." Church leaders and ministry leaders can learn a great deal from this episode. My … Continue reading Godin on Organizational Resilience
Atonement, FINAL Pastoral Thoughts
For the summary and evaluation of the ten theories, see my previous post. Now, having surveyed the ten theories and analyzed strengths and weaknesses, I conclude that we have six viable theories. They are: Christus victor General substitution Governmental Moral influence Participation The death of violence I don't think any of these views stands alone: … Continue reading Atonement, FINAL Pastoral Thoughts
Atonement, pt 9: Summary & General Evaluation
In this series, I have examined ten different answers that theologians, including the Bible writers, including Jesus himself, have offered to the questions, "Why did Jesus die? What was achieved by his death?" Here is a quick summary of the series, again in roughly chronological order of their proposal by theologians: Jesus' death as ransom (the … Continue reading Atonement, pt 9: Summary & General Evaluation
Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentence, pt 2
This is a thread posted on Twitter by Matt Emerson over the weekend. I completely agree with his central point, even if I don't know the particulars of the arguments he mentions. Matt Emerson @M_Y_Emerson What if - just hear me out - it’s possible to affirm that we are each personally responsible for our … Continue reading Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentence, pt 2
Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance
I have finished the survey of atonement theories. I will publish one final post tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday, summarizing the survey and making several pastoral recommendations. Until then, on to something new. Daniel 9 is an amazing text. The chapter centers on Daniel's prayer of repentance. What strikes me is how he repents for sin … Continue reading Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance
Atonement, pt 8
Once again, I'm going to skip the boilerplate text and go directly to the theories of atonement. If you haven't been reading the series, you should go back to the sixth post to get oriented. This is the tenth theory of atonement. I do not endorse this theory, as will be clear in my comments. … Continue reading Atonement, pt 8
Circleslide 