Blue Like Jazz - Not Really Getting It

I have read a couple of chapters of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller and I have to say that I just cannot really get into it. I think it just seems like he is trying to be purposefully flippant or maybe it is that the book is fluffy with an air that it really [...]

Dan Kimball’s Emerging Church

I have been reading up on the Emerging/Emergent church a little because I am invested in understanding and reaching out to people who have grown up with a postmodern perspective. Kimball splits this book into two halves - the first half is theoretical to help the reader understand the underlying cultural concepts that are a [...]

Does God Really Hate Shrimp This Much?

Apparently there is a group out that is anti-shrimp. Why? Because of Old Testament kosher laws. Here is a link to their website. It really makes me wonder, if they take that law so seriously, are they also circumcised, keeping the Sabbath holy, burying their feces outside, avoiding all forms of pork, and keeping roughly [...]

Ben Witherington on Rob Bell

Somehow I missed these from nearly a year ago. I just read through them recently and found them incredibly helpful.
Witherington on Velvet Elvis
Review of Nooma Videos 1-5
Review of Nooma Videos 6-10
Review of Nooma Videos 11-15
I would have to agree with BWIII that his freshness and authenticity are refreshing but how much better it would be [...]

Tagged by Philip - Page 123

Tagged by Philip - Pick up the nearest book. Turn to p. 123. Skip the first 5 sentences and copy the next three. Tag five others.
This is from James Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians in the Black’s New Testament Commentary Series with some commentary on Galatians 2:12:
In such circumstances, as in the Maccabean period [...]

Socio, Socio, Wherefore Art Thou Socio?

I have to hand it to Ben Witherington III. His Socio-Rhetorical commentaries are to serious study what N.T. Wright’s “For Everyone” series is for a lighter and more accessible study. I have worked through his Socio-Rhetorical commentary on Corinthians and I have just started working through the one on Mark. Both are excellent. I have [...]

N.T. Wright’s “For Everyone” Series

I have been really pleased with N.T. Wright’s brief works on different books of the New Testament called the “For Everyone” series. I am going to make it a habit of putting one of these in the hands of each of the teachers when they are covering a New Testament book. He is concise, throws [...]

Velvet Elvis Movement Six - “New”

This is far and away the best chapter in the book to this point. Bell differentiates between the motivation of guilt vs. the motivation of knowing who we are and operating out of that knowledge. If you want to get people to memorize more verses, pray more, and check more checkboxes all you have to [...]

What do You Know About Rob Bell?

I just started reading Velvet Elvis tonight. I have been hearing more and more about Rob Bell and wanted to find out for myself how good his material and writing is. I have been pleasantly surprised with how well this book has been written. He does a good job of integrating a large amount of [...]

Keith Brenton Reviews “Behold the Pattern”

Keith does a wonderful job approaching such a huge and arduous task with a good attitude and open eyes. Behold the Pattern by Goebel Music is a classic work displaying the most extreme Christian conservatism and launches attacks on various church of Christ ministers. I will keep most of my opinions to myself. Keith says [...]