Follow the bulls: part 2, the return of the bulls (Psalm 51) (2/11/2021). This is the only possible solution to the problem of failure in self-knowledge, the problem of the locked room of delusion and self-deception: to be known by The Other, to invite and open oneself to the knowledge that only The Other has, but which The Other has offered to share.
Fearing and not fearing (Psalm 56) (2/11/2021). Fear is a fearful thing. It can cause blindness. It can undermine our rationality. It can make us shoot our wife or betray our country. It can be both a symptom and a cause of unfaithfulness to our God.
The simplest psalm (Psalm 117) (1/24/2021). St. Athanasius said that the Psalter contains in itself a perfect summary of every other part of the Bible. I think we could also say: Psalm 117—the shortest and simplest of the Psalms—sums up the entirety of the Psalter, and so in some sense the entirety of the Bible.
Jesus will always level with us (Luke 6) (1/21/2021). In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks to his followers, but in Luke’s Sermon on the Plain Jesus speaks to everyone—plainly.
Reading Psalm 102 on Inauguration Day (1/20/2021). Today is Inauguration Day in the USA, which means that something is ending and something is beginning. But what is ending, and what is beginning?
Choosing leaders (Luke 6:12–16) (1/17/2021). The only time Jesus spent all night praying was when he was going to select leaders. And even so, they didn’t turn out all that well.
Jesus and the Make Israel Holy Again movement (1/16/2021). Jesus healed many, but he did not heal the mindlessness of those who were filled with self-righteous religious zeal. That religious zeal nailed him to his cross.
The lord of all sabbaths is a fearsome surgeon (1/15/2021). The Word of the one Lord who is the good creator of all, like that Lord himself, is not dead and stuck, rigid and uncaring, but living and active both in compassion and in judgment.
Seeing unexpected things (Luke 5:17–26) (1/14/2021). It does not come naturally to see what you are not expecting to see. But to hear Jesus speak, and to see his deeds, is to see unexpected things.
An open letter to the president of Wheaton College (1/12/2021). More and less courageous responses to the guilt of the president and the complicity of his Christian supporters in January 6 insurrection.
The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder (1/11/2021). Reposting a vitally important Timothy Snyder article for accessibility to my friends. The republic known as the USA is in serious danger.
Fearing and laughing: Psalm 52 and the demise of Trump (1/10/2021). The more usual, expected phrase is “fear and trembling.” But there comes a time for fear and laughing. Psalm 52 contemplates the fate of the powerful person who is evil and boastful, contrasting it with the faithfulness of God toward God’s covenant people.
By the dawn’s early light (1/7/2021). Thoughts on the morning after the Trumpist Capitol Hill insurrection. The flag was still there.
When Jesus went on his way, where did he go? (Luke 4:31–37) (1/2/2021). Jesus will never be our homey who assures us that we are OK until we first hear him as the stranger who tells us that we are not OK, until we accept his exotic words as authoritative, as so authoritative and powerful that they cast out the demons that indwell us (verses 33–37), until we have been unmade and remade by his word.
The self-mutilating apostasy of White American Evangelicalism (11/21/2020). Noticing who the national leaders of Christotrumpism are (and are not) clues us in that Christotrumpism is evangelicalism separated from the head and heart of evangelicalism.
ReMEMbering Psalm 119:97–104 (11/12/2020). Sometimes praying the psalms can help us because we find it impossible to find ourselves in their words.
Trump as mirror and shadow (11/6/2020). What we need is not to annihilate or even deny our Trumpish side but to understand it and integrate it into a healthy whole. This will not be easy.
Are you calling Trump a fascist? (11/4/2020). Why we all need to read Justin Stanley’s How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them.
October 2020
Speaking of Hitler (October 30, 2020). A friend asks, “Are you comparing Trump to Hitler?” Well, no, and yes.
The dark turn of Psalm 106 (October 27, 2020). What do we do with a recital not of the mighty acts of God but of the perfidious response of his people?
Psalm 104: Introduction (10/21/2020). We read a poem like Psalm 104 as a gracious and beautiful revelation of the truth of the world around us.
Psalm 40 and the Normal Christian Life (10/8/2020). What if we try reading Psalm 40 as a boilerplate description of the life of the follower of the Lord?
WSJ Down the Rabbit Hole (10/2/2020). Rebutting a ridiculous opinion column in the Wall Street Journal regarding the first Trump-Biden debate.
Dumpster Fire (10/1/2020). I remember my elementary school janitors and reflect on literal and figurative dumpster fires.
September 2020
The tragedy of fractional-issue politics (9/24/2020). And the devil, taking her up into a high mountain, showed her one more Supreme Court justice. . . . (Thoughts on an interview with an anti-abortion activist.)
A note of appreciation to Heather Cox Richardson (9/7/2020). Her Letters from an American will stand as a record of these days, regardless of how our political mess turns out. Yesterday’s letter struck me as taking an ominous turn.
Naming racists and racism (9/5/2020). We should not call a person whose soul is tainted by racism (which includes all of us) a racist—no more than we call a person who has a physical disability a cripple—unless we have given up on them and want them to give up on themselves.
The wicked, God, and me (Psalm 5, day 1) (9/3/2020). Psalm 5 encourages us to focus first on God but not to ignore or condone the wicked deeds of wicked people.
Scriptures for the day (8/21/2020) . Recalling some scripture passages that seemed appropriate to the day.
My American reflections on the news from Belarus (8/20/2020). It’s good to listen to news from abroad because foreign places and peoples matter. But it’s also good to let news from abroad jolt us into seeing our own domestic situation more clearly.
Faith, Fanaticism, and Trumpism (8/18/2020). Either I don’t know the difference between faith and fanaticism or some of my friends don’t.
Striking a pose: Psalm 18 and positional righteousness (8/8/2020). What has gone wrong with certain American Christian traditions that what we believe and do diverges so starkly from the ways of the one we claim to follow?
What to do about disagreements between Christians? (7/20/2020). Trusting God and each other could move us from anxiety and anger to joy and freedom in our relationships with other Christians with whom we have disagreements.
Ngram Viewer and the human condition (7/16/2020). Does common usage make it right? “It” being spelling, word choice, grammar. And how does language relate to morals?
Two pathologies of loyalty (7/15/2020). Excessive or distorted loyalty to a principle is curable. Not so sure about excessive loyalty to an undeserving person.
America, be what you are! (7/8/2020). How the Apostle Paul teaches us that to be a patriot you don’t have to pretend that America is and always has been nothing but wonderful.
God gets refractory, haughty brought down (7/8/2020). Does God show himself to be refractory or make himself seem tortuous? (And does that mean I don’t always have to talk nice about major a**h****s?)
The year of f/u (7/7/2020). Do we want to be brought together, or do we prefer to be driven further apart? Do we aspire to speak truth in love? Or do we prefer the way of f/u?
Psalm 119 now! (6/27/2020). The light on the path is good for one more step.
Hey, Psalm 119! (6/26/2020). How can two people look at the same thing and see completely different things. What are we doing when we think we are knowing?
Going to heaven? Why the heck not? (6/22/2020). I can’t fathom why some people out there seem so urgently compelled to spread the good news that nobody is going to heaven.
Procopius of–Gaza!? (6/20/2020). The places where Christian life and learning thrive in one moment can become desolate in another.
On eating Aunt Jemima syrup sacrificed to idols (6/19/2020). Paul was willing to give up meat for the rest of his life to avoid causing offense to a brother or sister, and you can’t give up the denatured black mammy on your syrup bottle?
Peace, peace: Nice prophets and slight healing (5/26/2020). Sassey Christian leaders who offer lame platitudes to the people instead of firm rebukes to sick leaders get no support from Jeremiah–or Jesus.
STEM and the humanities (5/23/2020). People who know math, science, and technology can really suck at reading texts and detecting moral charlatans.
Masking the image of God (5/22/2020). What dishonors the image of God? Covering the face with personal protective gear or filling the air with insults, slanders, and lies?
In memoriam: Vinson Synan (3/18/2020). An EerdWord post marking the death of an Eerdmans author who once served a church in my home town.
Older
Truthfulness and the Word (Christmas 2018)(12/24/2018). To honor the incarnation of the Word that was in the beginning is to align our words and deeds with him in truthful speech that is congruent with grace-filled action.
Can I trust you? (Greg Sterling) (5/21/2018). Psalm 15 gives a divinity school dean a basis upon which to charge graduates to uncompromising integrity and truthfulness in a society where both are scarce.
In memorian: Gabe Fackre (2/9/2018). An EerdWord post marking the death of an Eerdmans author who was also one of my teachers.
Streets and statues, truth and reconciliation (5/21/2017). New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu’s exemplary speech on Confederate statues prompts me to reflect on growing up in territory soaked in Civil War memories.
Faithful stewardship? (3/4/2017) How Christians can support trashing the environment and gutting environmental protection is beyond me.
Politics in church? (1/14/2017) A Christian who wants to keep God out of politics is probably about as thoroughly converted as a Christian who want to keep God out of his wallet.
Tu quoque, yer mom!, and the way forward (12/30/2016). We are going to have to get a lot less stupid with regard to how we argue if we are ever to dig our way out of this mess.
Hard questions, correct answers, and pastoral wisdom (12/28/2016). Pastors who give rote doctrinal answers when pastoral wisdom is needed, and parishioners who demand that they do just that, do not serve the gospel well.
My strangely unedifying Facebook posts (12/16/2020). On building up and tearing down: my apologia for denouncing Trump as a necessary, godly, and biblical thing for a Christian pastor, teacher, or disciple to do.
God bless America? (6/25/2016). In what sense a Christian should and should not say “God Bless America.”
Uncertainty about the book (9/4/2012) Drawing on Doron Mendels’s description of the “media revolution” launched by Eusebius of Caesarea to reflect on the potential of Christian publishing today.
Jesus comes down the mountain (2/7/2010) Jesus walks down off the mountain of lawgiving to offer forgiveness and healing. What are we to make of that?
