In my all-too-brief(-so-far) lifetime, I have found much to complain about. It seems like everywhere I go, there’s something that isn’t the way I want it. I was speaking with a colleague in our kitchen once, and asked how she got on, traveling more than we do. Her answer was Read more…
I just realized I don’t have an article to refer to on this topic, while I’ve been using and talking about these methods for some years, so I’ll briefly describe what I mean here. The term comes from “Participatory Research in Linguistics”, by Constance Kutsch Lojenga (1996). Others have used Read more…
We have been communicating about our Wycliffe ministry for almost two decades, and during that time we have tried to communicate well in both content and form. Our first newsletter was very plain, with a small picture and lots of text: By our next newsletter, we had a title, header, Read more…
Going through Romans 7, I find a lot of our discussions could use more background than we have. When talking about “the Law”, there are two questions I have found very helpful in finding my way through Biblical texts, as well as conversations about them with others. The first I Read more…
Here is my mind map for this section: You can get a copy of the scrolls for this section here. And here are a few questions of my own: Who is Paul addressing now? How does the reader condemning himself? What is God’s judgment based on? What is the purpose Read more…
This passage contains what is almost unanimously agreed to be the thesis of the book of Romans. It has a couple ambiguities, perhaps because multiple readings each contain aspects which will be brought out in more detail later. First, I’m not sure about the three for‘s in this passage. The Read more…
Last week in Re|engage, we talked about Love, and how God defines it in the Bible. One thing we looked at was 1 John 4:7-21; my map of the passage follows: This is another passage I’ve seen many times before, but I was struck by the beauty of how it Read more…
Introductions are somewhat like genealogies to many of us; we have a tendency to just blow them off, and skip to “the good stuff”. But this introduction has plenty of Good stuff in it. It introduces Paul, the Gospel, Jesus, and the Christian, all of which are very relevant to Read more…
Some time in the last couple months, I got wind that our local church would be studying through Romans in 2018. Some may have groaned, but I have now looked forward to it from that time, and can’t wait to get started. Some have said that God repeats lessons you Read more…
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. (Ps 146:8 ESV) I took two days off altogether from writing, for Sunday worship and rest, then Christmas day, and yesterday I got back to putting edits into Read more…