Yesterday I was with a group of pastors, congregational leaders, and students at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennesse, talking about ministry, leadership, and preaching in a changed and changing world. One of the themes of the day was the “storied” or “narrative” nature...
Preaching the Story
posted by DJL
This week I am spending most of my time reveling in the annual preaching conference hosted at Luther Seminary (where – full disclosure J – I teach! 🙂 ) called the Celebration of Biblical Preaching. And it is a celebration – full of lively plenary presentations, great workshops,...
At The Smithville Me...
posted by DJL
There is a candor about Stephen Dunn’s “At The Smithville Methodist Church” that I find incredibly attractive. He is candid about his own lack of faith, his own skepticism, without being antagonistic. But he is also candid about where lack of belief falls short:...
The Bible Offers a Bigger Kind of Truth
posted by DJL
Last week I offered four reasons not to read the Bible literally. But what’s the alternative? I mean, isn’t reading it literally taking the Bible at face value, taking it most seriously? Actually, I’m not sure it is, and in this post I want to begin to offer an alternative. To do so, we need to begin with just a little bit of history. Many of our categories for thinking about truth in relation to facts developed about three and a half centuries ago, but were relatively unknown to biblical authors. You see, disillusioned by the religious fervor that fed the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the early architects of what would later be called...
The Mystery Box
posted by DJL
J.J. Abrams is one of the foremost story tellers of our generation. Creator of Lost and director of Mission Impossible 3, Super 8, and Star Trek, Abrams is renowned for pulling viewers into a story until, well, they have a hard time finding their way out. In this TEDTalk, Abrams shares his...