Assoc. Pastor at @HopeCambridge // Church History PhD - Evangelicalism and American Higher Ed.
Boston, MA
Joined October 2012
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Evangelical momentum suffers greatly from sideways energy. Yet, the further we tend to press into the issues™️ and Twitter topics du jour, the clearer it becomes that the means of grace, evangelism, and discipleship still account for the best use of our time.
Just.. wow. If, at the end of our earthly lives, we could have half of the same testimony spoken of us as Katie has of Stephen, we will have lived more than a full life. Grateful to God for the strength given Katie and for the Lord's sustaining grace amid such a terrible tragedy.
At the funeral today for Stephen and David Clayton, Stephen’s wife, Katie, spoke—with her jaw wired shut from the accident. Wow. What a testimony. It starts at 38:50 min. on the livestream video here and ends around 1:02:40 (I’m not sure how long the video will be online at this URL): thenorthchurch.com/live/spec…
Ecclesiastes 7:1–4:
A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Heard someone remark today that podcast equipment should be more difficult to obtain and that is both hilarious and true.
For friends w/ interest in theological education, do pray for the @GordonConwell committee leading the search for their next President. GC is an institution with rich history and wide influence that bears upon the shape and trajectory of gospel ministry in New England and beyond.
When it comes to theological education, institutional resilience corresponds with institutional commitment to theological fidelity. And that’s not happenstance.
Mike Brooks retweeted
I was happy to endorse this work by Nate Pickowicz @RHB_Books. Many pastors write history books, but I don’t know many who write about the history of their own town. Rev. Isaac Smith (1745-1817) lived during an extraordinary time. We need more pastors writing local histories!
A pleasure to sit in on a lecture and Q&A with Molly Worthen on charisma, politics, and American religion this afternoon at Harvard Law.
Her insight and enthusiasm are true gifts to the academy and church.
It isn't unique to New England, but our region would benefit spiritually from a widespread recovery of the invitation or "call" to ministry from pulpits & pastors. Get the sense that growing #'s of otherwise qualified men here have no category for aspiring to the pastoral office.
Among other things, I greatly appreciate this aspect of Patrick's recent book. Some side-eyes are more antagonistic but for the ones that aren't, I think Patrick demonstrates how one can humbly (and quite helpfully) validate and address concerns with confidence and conviction.
In my book “The Four Senses of Scripture” I give quite a few guardrails that help protect speculative readings of the spiritual senses.
Now that it is published, I actually think I gave too many which makes them hard to remember. 😆
Since I constantly get the question of how to safeguard “spiritual” readings, I’ve come up with four that are easier to remember.
Rules for Reading the Spiritual Sense
1. Don’t Contradict the Literal Sense
2. Look for Correspondence
3. Read for Canonical Volume
4. Trace the Crescendo/Escalation
This week’s highlight… My backpack was stolen over the weekend with my iPad and Apple Watch in it.
A colleague and I tracked the iPad to a subway station several blocks away and happened upon someone there with the backpack sitting beside them… 1/2
After a bit of back-and-forth, I offered to prove it was mine (!) by putting my passcode in to unlock the iPad.
But what really sealed the deal was when I pulled this gem from @rscott_pace & @shane_pruitt78 from the bag.
Turns out the topic only interested one of us!
2/2
Passing the torch of an institution doesn't demand anything less than securing its financial future, but it does need to entail a lot more, including succession strategies, legal frameworks, governance structures, etc. that place named value on biblical + theological fidelity.
Treasures from the church Lost & Found in Cambridge, Mass.
Somewhere there’s a groggy/ornery 1L who will hopefully see this.
Infrequent reminder that we still need an updated Baptist *this* for any of my more ambitious seminary-rooted friends out there looking to be of practical help to local churches.
"We should show due deference to the Christian tradition, but Scripture still has pride of place as the sole, inspired, and inerrant Word of God."
A good word from @lukestamps over at @TGC on the Protestant agenda for theological retrieval.
thegospelcoalition.org/artic…
