Connected Christianity

Thomas Oden has written a new book and established a new organization both devoted to the indigenous African influence on Western (and Eastern) Christianity. The book is called How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind, and it is reviewed by evangelical scholar Scot McKnight (part one, part two). The organization is The Center for Early African […]

Most everyone has heard the story of the three boys in the fiery furnace from Daniel chapter 3. My favorite part of that story, though, is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s statement, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it…. But even if he does […]

Even though I’ve been doing quick readthroughs of the prophets, I’m going to slow down in Daniel because it’s got a lot of great material. The book of Daniel contains some classic Bible stories that most people heard when they were children. Something about Daniel’s experiences makes them ideal for telling kids: they’re succinct, have […]

Here’s a recent quote from a pastor in California: “I guess there was just a concern for the values of our society, being too caught up in what doesn’t last.” Good point; I agree with him. He went on, “Even in the church we get caught up in temporal things.” Another good point; I definitely […]

As the father of a ten-month old son, I found a reassuring message in Ezekiel 18. The whole chapter is God’s explanation of why an old Israelite proverb that the people have been quoting is wrong (18:1-3). Fortunately for my son, he won’t have to be punished for the mistakes I make in life, or […]

As I continue my brush through the Old Testament prophets, I come to Lamentations. A very unique book of the Bible since it’s all about how crappy life can be sometimes. Take chapter 3 for example.
If Lamentations 3 only included verses 25-33, I wouldn’t like it very much. Sure, it has very reassuring sentiments like, […]

In March, a Colorado megachurch hosted a forum on church security. Their focus on increased security comes from an incident in December, when a man entered and started shooting at people after a worship service. Two were killed and three wounded before a volunteer guard shot the man, who then killed himself. Definitely a horrible […]