The four gospels that we have (the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell the story of Jesus and of his first followers. Each of them has a unique approach and a unique audience, as described in this video clip of an interview I did with Paul Borgman:1 Why…
How harmful is your Bible?
“This book should come with a warning label,” Allen Callahan says of the Bible. In my interview with Allen (which will post this Thursday) we covered, as we always do, “who has been a ‘great Bible teacher’ in your life?” For Allen, it was a professor who was himself taught…
Am I a Bully in Denial?
A man unsubscribed from my mailing list last week. He left a note that confused me. I am trying to build my mailing list. When a person opts out, I can usually guess the reason. Reason 1: I Disagree Not everyone agrees with my comments or the insights of those…
It’s going to be alright
My problem with John’s Revelation This week, I led the sixth of seven Bible studies on the book of Revelation. It featured Revelation chapters 17-19 – the Whore of Babylon, the great Beast, the fall of Babylon, the celebration in Heaven (and marriage feast of the Lamb), the Rider on…
Three Lists I Challenge You to Create
These days, I am seeing a lot of lists related to racism. “10 things to watch to educate yourself about systemic racism.” “Seven books you must read.” And even, “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.” I am finding most of these lists helpful. Marilyn McEntyre (I posted…
Why Aren’t We Uncomfortable with Jesus?
If we think about why Jesus was killed, we might be uncomfortable with him. We might be uncomfortable with his teachings. And, if we teach what he taught and lived (which got him killed), our class members might be uncomfortable with us. Do we dare? Let’s acknowledge that there are…
Announcement – 3 great resources!
Do YOU domesticate the Bible?
Walter Brueggeman is one of my favorite scholar-authors. His love of the Bible comes through in everything he writes. He is also prophetic. Brueggemann doesn’t let anyone get away with taking the Bible lightly (as just another work of ancient literature, for example) or too seriously (as an object of…
The Slave Bible – not your typical boutique Bible
The Slave Bible is not your typical boutique Bible. We all have our own canons – those verses of the Bible that we know and live by. Most who were raised in a church can probably quote John 3:16 or complete the quote from I John, “God is _____.” We…
What’s In A Name?
You might be interested in knowing why I named this ministry “Great Bible Teachers.” Here is how that happened. Chad Hall is a good friend and a masterful coach. As I was struggling with this nudge of doing “something” to strengthen the teaching ministry of the Church, Chad invited…
