Here are the textbooks I am requiring for my three Ministry Leadership (ML) courses this fall at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN). I am teaching each of these courses this three times this year and I am teaching each in... Read more →
My dissertation proposal was approved today. The title is "Exemplary Church: John Howard Yoder’s interpretation of Karl Barth’s ecclesiology." Stanley Hauerwas and Curtis Freeman are my co-directors. Allen Verhey and Will Willimon round out my committee. Now, 250 pages to... Read more →
I thought John Howard Yoder's reference to Lesslie Newbigin was amusing in the quote below. This reference to Newbigin is the only reference to an individual contemporary in the pamphlet. Yoder (1927-1997) age 30, not only takes a little shot... Read more →
Stanley Hauerwas has recently published his most sophisticated treatment of mission and evangelism. Stanley Hauerwas, "Beyond the Boundaries: The Church as Mission" in Walk Humbly with the Lord: Church and Mission Engaging Plurality (ed. Viggo Mortensen and Andreas Østerlund Nielsen;... Read more →
Here are seven reasons why I like reading John Howard Yoder (1927-1997). 1. He effectively argues for the importance of vibrant local churches. 2. His explains the importance of the church orienting itself by Scripture. 3. He interacts with a... Read more →
I appreciated the analysis and conversation regarding Nathan Kerr's book Christ, History and Apocalyptic during January through March of 2009 at "The Church and Postmodern Culture" blog. But it is a bit tricky to find all of the posts so... Read more →
The Society of Biblical Literature 2009 Annual Meeting is next weekend November 21-24, 2009 in New Orleans and I'm going. There are hundreds of different sessions to go to. View the 2009 Annual Meeting Online Program Book You should go... Read more →
I decided to list in the right column of my blog eight important theological books that have been influential on me. They have in common a high view of Scripture and the church. I had Gordon Fee, Richard Hays, and... Read more →
Go read Brad Brisco's post: Lesslie Newbigin and the GOCN if you want to get at a more nuanced understanding of the divisions within the missional conversation at a scholarly level. Brisco excerpts a few paragraphs from Trinity Western University... Read more →
What is a church? Allow me in this post to introduce you to three phrases: esse notae ecclesiae (essential marks of the church) bene notae ecclesiae (good marks of the church) plene notae ecclesiae (full marks of the church) My... Read more →
I am placing online the major paper I wrote this summer: The Ecclesiology of John Howard Yoder: Scripture, Five Practices of the Christian Community, and Mission. It is 96 pages and I don't expect many to read it but it... Read more →
Last weekend, I missed my ten year reunion at Taylor University. The following article is published in the Fall 2008 issue of Metanoia, an admissions publication for Taylor. In the article, I reflect that when I was a student at... Read more →
Tim Kumfer at The Other Journal notes it is worth voting--quoting John Howard Yoder, "It is one way, one of the weaker and vaguer ways, to speak truth to power." In other words, it is something but there is so... Read more →
I am doing my doctoral work here at Duke Divinity School on "The Practice of Leading Christian Communities and Institutions" with my secondary concentration in "New Testament." This spring each of my courses (Scripture and Ethics with Allen Verhey and... Read more →
