I’m working on making my working life happy and productive without having to punch a clock or meet institutional deadlines. So my advisors at the moment are the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Christians who moved out to the fourth century Egyptian desert for an isolated life of prayer. Sometimes they hit it straight out of the park, not just […]
Shouldn’t This Be Easy? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Thanks for your note. You are definitely right: seeking a mountaintop experience is by no means the only off-target assumption people bring to seminary. And the assumptions that you bring make a big difference on the experience you have. Anyway, the conversations you mention point to another assumption that can keep people from […]
Looking into the Gap: The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos
If I were to pick one item of teaching or practice that best marks the distinction between Protestants and the more ancient traditions of Christianity it would have to be Jesus’ mom. She’s huge to both Orthodox and Catholic Christians. Protestants? Not so much. Not too long ago I heard a Protestant sermon in which […]
Should You Look for a Mountaintop Experience? (Letters to a Young Pastor)
Dear ______: Thanks for writing. Glad you found the distinction between Protestant and Non-Protestant seminaries useful. Seminary as new car showroom? Yes, your car analogy works pretty well: Protestant seminaries are built on the chassis of an academic program, with spiritual features and option packages. Catholic and Orthodox seminaries are built on a monastic chassis, […]
Why Proclaim that Christ Ascended? (Heidelberg Catechism Q46)
One traditional Christian teaching that many today simply ignore is Christ’s “Ascension.” Why proclaim that Christ ascended into heaven? One answer is that it is simply biblical. You find it at the end of both Mark and Luke, but Acts 1 is the version that sticks in our collective memory. The risen Christ has just […]
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