So we eat. We are dependent on many and ultimately God for the grace of our continued diets. We say grace at mealtimes in recognition of that dependence. For all that, many of us dont consider that theology has much to do with meals and eating.
Of course, if you are going to use a lens of food and hospitality to teach theology, youd better be ready to feed your students. The beginning of semester means a marathon Welsh cake baking session in the Draycott home. In our January intensive Interterm, I get to welcome the whole class to our home for a session of teaching. In regular semester the larger classes dont allow this. But hospitality then becomes an experiential learning project for the students. Throughout the semester, in groups they will have eaten a meal together and deliberately fasted and prayed together.
I teach my Theology II undergraduate survey course through the lens of a theology of food and hospitality. Over a few posts Ill share a number of elements that constitute the overall logic of the class. First, here, I share the formal shape of the class and how I see it fitting with our key concerns as a university. I shall later comment on my textbook choices and other resources that explore the theme. Also to come will be an account of how I frame what the task of theology is for my students through this lens, along with the measure of what I think can be achieved in a class.
In this audio recording, Dr. Cardoza uses 1 Thessalonians 2 to discuss eight biblical characteristics of disciplers. "Discipling people is one of the most fundamentally important things we can do as Christians. The great commission tells us to make disciples; the New Testament is replete - especially in the gospels and acts - with examples of discipling..."
It was the fall of 1930. Just a year had passed since the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression. Adolf Hitler was on his meteoric rise to power in Germany. But God was powerfully at work in the Pennsylvania steel town of Pittsburgh. A 21-year-old Jewish man named Bezalel Feinberg had heard the Gospel and prayed to receive Christ. It sounds so simple, yet it was anything but.
Los prop坦sitos de a単o nuevo son parte de la costumbre anual de muchos de nosotros. La llegada del nuevo a単o nos da la oportunidad para detenernos por un momento y planificar un futuro mejor. Por ejemplo, los gimnasios aumentan sus membrec鱈as considerablemente en enero con personas que desean bajar de peso o mejorar su condici坦n f鱈sica. Tambi辿n escuch辿 que el 鱈ndice de divorcios crece considerablemente las primeras semanas del a単o. Independientemente de la sabidur鱈a de los prop坦sitos, todos los deseos persiguen un mejor destino.
In an ideal world, all Christians would maintain three types of spiritual relationships as they walked through life. (Disclaimer: There have only been a couple times in my own life when I have had all three going at once, but this is still an ideal worth aiming for.)
El nacimiento de Jes炭s cambi坦 al mundo. La navidad es, sin duda alguna, el acontecimiento m叩s importante en la historia de la humanidad y, por lo tanto, la mayor celebraci坦n de cada a単o. El Dios creador del universo se hizo hombre y habit坦 entre nosotros. Dios no est叩 lejos ni es distante sino que a trav辿s de Jes炭s su presencia es real y personal. De hecho, el milagro de la navidad se resume con la palabra Emanuel que significa apropiadamente Dios con nosotros.
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without error or misstatement in their moral and spiritual teaching and record of historical facts. They are without error or defect of any kind. Thus reads 晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023s (and Talbot School of Theologys) Articles of Faitha document that remains unchanged since it was written shortly after the turn of the century. As the Dean of Talbot and as one who has been on the faculty for 27 years, I can say that this is a conviction that runs very deep in our faculty. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and, as such, is truthful in what it affirms and can be completely trusted.
Por los tres 炭ltimos a単os, el 鱈ndice de felicidad planetaria ha dado a conocer los pa鱈ses m叩s felices del mundo de acuerdo a ciertos par叩metros. Los resultados sorprendentes de la 炭ltima edici坦n en el 2012 se単alaron que pa鱈s m叩s feliz del mundo es Costa Rica, en segundo lugar se encuentra Vietnam y en tercero Colombia. Los Estados Unidos se ubicaron en el lugar 104. Este 鱈ndice de felicidad se basa en tres cosas: 1) Se hace la pregunta la persona, "多Qu辿 tan feliz es usted?" En una escala del 0-10. 2) Luego se mide la expectativa de vida de las personas de ese pa鱈s. Finalmente se mide cuanta tierra (o recursos ecol坦gicos) necesita la persona en ese pa鱈s para ser feliz.
Between 1750 and 1900, the total expanse of human knowledge had doubled. At that time of pre-technology human history, it took 150 years. Today, the growth of knowledge is occurring some 100 times faster. It is said that the entire sum of all known information, i.e., human knowledge, doubles every 1.5 years. By 2020 it is estimated that it will be doubling approximately every month and a half (72 days). Think about that
El gran educador Antonio del Corro (Sevilla, 1527-Londres, 1591) es quiz叩 una de las figuras m叩s importantes y a la vez menos conocidas de la reforma espa単ola. Es tambi辿n un ejemplo a imitar para todos los que seguimos a Cristo y sobre todo para los que nos dedicamos a servirle a trav辿s de la ense単anza. El historiador Emilio Monjo se refiere a Antonio de Corro como un personaje que refleja el talante de la Reforma espa単ola en cuanto a su libertad de pensamiento y palabra: una iglesia que hab鱈a nacido libre por la acci坦n de la Escritura, y que se mantuvo libre con la Escritura tambi辿n en su exilio europeo".
Three years ago, Trudi and I adopted two precious girls out of the Los Angeles County foster system. They are now 14 and 12 years old. We are deeply grateful for these precious young ladies God has brought into our family. But we encountered a few things that we wish someone had told us about foster-adoptions before we started the process. Here is a short list of issues that might be helpful for you to know if youre considering embarking on such an adventure.
2013 is the inaugural year of an innovative biblical commentary series edited by John Walton and Mark Straus (published by Baker Books). Its called Teach the Text because that is what it is about: helping people to teach the biblical text effectively. It combines literary, background and exegetical analysis with theological, pedagogical and homiletical discussion. But it does this in a surprisingly concise and accessible manner.
Yesterday I spent about 45 minutes talking and praying with one of my current students. Four months ago he was invited to step into the role of youth pastor in his church, and now finds himself responsible for preparing and teaching a message every Friday and Sunday. Two messages a week! And this for someone who has only done a bit of preaching in the past He shared with me (and I share this entire post with his permission) that the single hardest thing he has faced in his new role as youth pastor is the agonizing decision of what to preach each week.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. This slogan, first broadcast by the United Negro College Fund in 1972, has become something of a John 3:16 for educators seeking to evangelistically rouse students out of intellectual slumber. If I could tailor this slogan for our 晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023 community as we embark on a new semester, it would become: The mind of Christ is far too precious to not cultivate. While lacking the elegant phrasing and bumper sticker quote-ability of the original, it does express something I hope we can pause to ponder as we enter our classrooms.
Hace ya varios a単os escuch辿 una frase que me ha hecho pensar constantemente y que refleja uno de los mayores peligros que enfrentan los l鱈deres cristianos. La frase dice as鱈: es importante no estar tan ocupado en la obra de Dios que nos olvidemos del Dios de la obra. El problema no es el servicio a Dios sino el enfoque y, en muchos casos, la motivaci坦n que nos mueve al servicio. Estoy convencido que uno de los pecados principales de muchos l鱈deres es el 辿nfasis obsesivo por el trabajo y, por lo tanto, el descuido de lo esencial y verdaderamente importante como Dios, la familia y el cuidado personal.
The most recent issue of the Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care carried an article I wrote on the relationship between spiritual formation and mission. Here's an outline...
One of the little known facts of church growth is that pastors can stay too long. Long pastoral tenure can actually harm the growth of a church. Generally, the first twenty years of a pastors tenure are quite healthy, but it is very rare for a pastor to lead a church through a third decade with vitality and growth.
多Por qu辿 las cosas son como son? 多D坦nde est叩 Dios cuando el mundo lo ignora a l y a sus principios? Cuando Dios act炭a, 多por qu辿 hace l lo que hace? Todos nos hemos hecho alguna vez preguntas dif鱈ciles respecto a Dios y a nuestra fe. En muchas ocasiones, lo que vemos aparentemente no concuerda con lo que creemos acerca de Dios. 多Qu辿 hacer en estas circunstancias? En Habacuc encontramos un libro b鱈blico que nos muestra un modelo para enfrentar estos momentos y acrecentar nuestra fe en el Dios que sostiene el universo con su poder.
I love my office. There are many reasons that I love my office. One is that I can store the many books that I own in there. Second, it is a place for study or reading in a quiet setting. But what I love most is that my office is a place for ministry and discipleship to occur. In other words, it is a safe place to meet students who are not only facing the challenges of academia but also the hardships of life. For this reason, the value of my office hours is priceless!
My wife Trudi and I spoke for a parenting seminar this past weekend. We offered 14 tips for nurturing the spiritual lives of ones children. Ive included the 14 teaching points here for your own consideration. Our prayer is that many parents will take on the call to intentionally train their children in the ways of the Lord. If you want your children to grow up to be passionate followers of Christ
There is a pressure that is constantly battling around us to give people whatever they want. When you are younger it was labeled peer pressure. However, as we grow older the peer pressures continues throughout life, we just call them Expectations
A search of the Internet will reveal several different kite parables, including one in support of the (un-Christian) idea that by holding tight to the string of Gods commandments people can fly themselves up into the heavens. Id like to suggest a different kite parable, one that is more in keeping with Christian orthodoxy. My parable focuses on the kite itself (not the string) as the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone, but not a faith that is alone.
晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023