MORE R & R PLEASE

Would anyone argue that churches of Christ are in great need of revival? The headline in the February 2009 issue of The Christian Chronicle discourages: Church in America marked by decline. There are 526 fewer congregations and 78,436 fewer members since 2003. While the population of the US has increase 36.3% [...]

What Little Things?

Lately the books I’ve read communicate this insight: Little things and changes can make a big difference. I’ve read The 2-degree Difference: How Little Things Can Change Everything (B & H Publishing Group: Nashville, 2006) and Heart Shift (Broadman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, 2004) by John Trent. I am presently reading The Tipping Point: How [...]

Hermeneutics: In Search of Pattern or Reality (Part I) — No Reconstruction Required

Moses built the tabernacle according to the pattern that God showed him on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40). It was the pattern for a tabernacle, priesthood, and all the various regulations for service to the God of the Mosaic covenant with Israel. Hebrews chapters 8-10 explain the significance of this pattern, which had to [...]

Hermeneutics: Interpretation and Sounds of Silence

It seems that I just cannot keep silent about silence. John the Baptist abstained from wine and excused himself from an ordinary social life for eating locusts and wild honey in the wilderness. Jesus turned the water into the best wine, ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors; but nevertheless, did make [...]

Hermeneutics: Interpretation and the Wizard of Silence

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” – The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (1939). In hermeneutics (interpretation) silence is the man behind the curtain: a pretentious wizard with an odd collection of personal effects. Those who would interpret the Bible cannot ignore him. He may [...]