Tradition?

Do you have a must-experience christmas tradition? Is it one of your making or one you are continuing from ages and generations past? Do you wish you had one or wish you could get rid of one of someone else’s making?
Since we got married 18 years ago, we have traveled 17 times to CT and [...]

The God I don’t Understand 5: OT violence?

We come to part two of Christopher Wright’s, The God I Don’t Understand(IVP, 2008). In the last section he muses about the problem of the existence of evil but in this section he considers the struggle to understand the violence and wrath of God found in the Old Testament. Wright says that atheists like Richard [...]

Fayette Street Grille

I’m not usually writing about food but my wife and I had a wonderful meal on Friday night at the Fayette Street Grille, Conshohocken, PA. The restaurant is a french style prix fix (but not that tiny portion type). You get a appetizer, main course, and dessert for 33 dollars. I had a molten brie/phyllo appetizer and roast [...]

When you sit with endless human depravity…

you can become quite cynical about Christians, christian organizations, etc. is there any church or pastor who isn’t completely hypocritical? Are there churches or boards that handle abused individuals with care? Do any of our leaders actually admit their wrongs and seek forgiveness? Does anyone in a difficult marriage stay and avoid bitterness?
The answer, of [...]

Volf on forgiving

In his 3rd hour last week, Miroslav Volf spoke on forgiveness. I say hour, but really it was only about 40 minutes with breaks and chatting. Here’s some of his thoughts that you can find in both End of Memory and Free of Charge.
1. We tend towards one of three reactions to wrongs: (a.) Revenge [...]

Volf on giving

Previously, I wrote a quick summary of Miroslav Volf’s first hour of his presentation entitled, Free of charge: Giving and Forgiving in a World Stripped of Grace. This time I’ll summary his second hour on “Giving.”
he started this hour with an aside. He commented that when he does this kind of talk, he finds that [...]

Top searches at Wisecounsel

The truth is, search engine searches are how people find us bloggers. But some of the searches used most frequently to find my site give me a chuckle. Especially the 4th most frequently used search:
“Where is my wallet?”
Now, who is looking on the internet for their wallet? Do they think that there is going to [...]

Volf on “Giving and Forgiving”

On Saturday I attended Miroslav Volf’s 3 hour talk on the topic of renewing grace and forgiveness in a “culture stripped of grace.” The first talk, “A Culture stripped of grace” he had these things to say:
1. Our culture is oriented around satisfying desires. If you ask a person what makes us flourish, you may get [...]

The God I don’t understand 4: Defeat of evil

We come to the 3rd chapter of Christopher Wright’s book, The God I don’t Understand(2008, IVP). Poking a little fun at theologians he tells us that while they want to explain evil, God intends and will destroy it. He reminds us that in the 1st chapter he called us to accept the mystery of evil [...]

Facebooking for 40+ year olds

Have you facebooked yet? If so, you might notice the explosion of users in their 4th and 5th decade of life. It’s become a great way to reconnect with old friends from high school and college. If Myspace was for teens then FB is for adults longing to reconnect in a world where they’ve left [...]