Print this issueNaming the Gospel
Plantinga and Gloer on Discovering Grace
Going into the worship symposium I was looking for a seminar that would justify the more than 30 hours I have spent this month reading the Harry Potter series. Plantinga and Gloer’s seminar entitled Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching seemed to fit the bill. Waves of affirmation washed over me as Plantinga commented in his opening remarks that a good reading schedule “improves the preacher’s diction… especially well written children’s literature.” Surely my reading of Harry Potter was time well spent.
Nooks and Crannies: The Idema Food Pantry
An Inside Look at the Seminary’s Supermarket
The Idema Food Pantry. It’s that place downstairs you go at least once a week when you forgot your lunch or made a grocery list and then realized you lacked the money to actually buy the items on your list. It’s a place that has been part of our Seminary community for over ten years. It’s also something very unique to our school community. Ask any student that has gone on to do Ph.D. work somewhere else and they will probably tell you how much they miss it.
Dumbledore’s Secret
Rowlings’ Secret a Blessing to Christians
Recently author J.K. Rowling created quite a stir by announcing that the headmaster of Hogwarts and wizard mentor of Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
I am going to take what might be an unpopular position on the issue and say this: it is a good thing that our friend Albus is gay.
“Justice, Mercy, and a Humble Walk”
A featured student sermon
A Sermon on Micah 6
Picture this:
You enter a court room. There are many people there. This is an important case. A high profile couple who everyone knows has been unable to agree on their divorce settlement. The husband has cheated on the wife many times. Everyone knows it. The trial is bound to be sensational. It is, but not in the way that you expect. The former spouses enter with their high-priced lawyers in six figure suits. They sit down. The court quiets down in anticipation of the judge's arrival. But the door behind the Judge’s bench remains closed. To everyone's amazement the wife who has only recently sat down beside her lawyer stands up, puts on a judge's robe, and sits in the judge's seat. Everyone is shocked. “Who does she think she is? It's not done this way!” True, she's been wronged but this is not how justice works.
Faith is in the Cards
SemEye for the Evangelical Guy
With the 1998 film Rounders Matt Damon and Edward Norton brought poker into mainstream American culture. The decade since has witnessed the dramatic rise of online gambling and the transition of shadowy card sharks into tabloid celebrities and tabloid celebrities into overconfident gamblers with too much money and too little sense. Following their lead millions of amateurs have learned the rules of Texas Hold’Em in the faint hopes of becoming the next Doyle Brunson or Scottie Nguyen. An unfortunate few wind up in support groups after losing everything to the endorphin rush of the big bet. Most just lose a few bucks and a little pride. Meanwhile the industry rolls up huge profits and it’s easier to find cards being played on ESPN than baseball.