Last night at The Ave, we continued our series "Charity Case" by looking at our love for God. You can download the message and presentation slides here. I spent quite a bit of time talking about the Shema, which is the Jewish prayer beginning with Deuteronomy 6:4-5 that Jesus references in Mark 12:28-34. Some of …
Jesus the New Israel
From Egypt, Yahweh led His people into the wilderness. He led them with the promise of a new land for them to occupy as their own with His blessing. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He re-entered the story of Israel. He faced the temptations of Israel: 'provide for us, oh God, …
Home Churches: New or Just the Same Old Thing?
A recent Time article about house churches sent my mind spinning off on a tangent. I have a fondness for the concept of house churches. But I began to wonder about something. The critique of the home church about megachurches is often that they are too big, not biblical enough, and reflective of America's self-centered, …
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In my mind, Bonhoeffer is one of the most important pastors and theologians of the 20th century. If you've never read anything by him, you should do so immediately. Try Life Together or The Cost of Discipleship. One of my earlier posts was …
Pat Robertson and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I was thinking about Pat Robertson's statement a bit more and reflecting on my negative bias against him when I wrote my last post. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I said to myself: "Self, one of your favorite authors, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was involved in an assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler. What's the difference …
Matthew Erickson 