Yesterday Fuller Studio premiered a new documentary that focuses on the unlikely friendship and love of the Psalms shared by, arguably, two of today’s most important spiritual leaders – Bono and Eugene Peterson. Peterson, who is perhaps most widely known for his translation of the Bible known as The Message, has significantly shaped contemporary conversation in the areas of pastoral and spiritual theology. Over the past forty years, his calm and steady voice has saved many pastors from foundering on the rocks of the Church Growth and Marketing movements. For those who aren’t familiar with Bono, he is an international activist and humanitarian who moonlights as the front-man of the Irish rock band U2. Continue reading The Prophet and the Pastor: Bono and Eugene Peterson
Monthly Archives: April 2016
Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Appeal!
After 42 years of practicing law, my dad hung up his tabs and gown and left the legal profession at the end of this past calendar year. This past weekend my family and some close friends gathered to celebrate my dad’s retirement. It was a wonderful evening of laughter, reminiscing and giving thanks. Towards the end of the evening I had the opportunity to share a few words with the group and to extend a blessing to my dad as he entered into this next phase of life. The following reflections upon retirement and vocation are based upon the thoughts I shared at the celebration. However, at the risk of making it a less compelling read, I have opted to leave out the more personal recollections. Continue reading Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Appeal!
On Saints and Sinners
The events of 2 Samuel 11-12 depicting the encounter between David and Bathsheba and its fallout mark “the great turning point of the whole David story.” 1 According to its traditional superscription, Psalm 51 was composed by David following his dramatic confrontation with the prophet Nathan. This great penitential psalm has rightly occupied a cherished place in the life of worship and prayer of the Christian church through the ages. In many traditions, it is corporately read or sung on Ash Wednesday. Reflecting upon the psalm leads Robert Barron to observe the somewhat counter-intuitive connection between saint and sinner in the Christian faith: Continue reading On Saints and Sinners
- Robert Alter, The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999), 249, quoted in Robert Baron, 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2015), 95. ↩
What Does Sinai Have to Do With Augusta?
In his continuing commentary on the story of David dancing before the ark of the covenant in 2 Samuel 6, Robert Barron observes that there is another aspect of the passage that is puzzling to modern readers. Namely, how on earth could anyone dance before the law? (We must remember that the tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed within the ark.) Barron observes, “it would be difficult to imagine anyone dancing with joy before the tax code or the latest motor vehicle statutes, or even before the U.S. Constitution.” 1 However, David and the people of Israel dance with all their might before the law! Continue reading What Does Sinai Have to Do With Augusta?
- Robert Barron, 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2015), 60. ↩
The Dance Goes On
I have been following the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series with great interest since the publication of its first volume over ten years ago. The central premise of the series is that “the Nicene tradition, in all of its diversity and controversy, provides the proper basis for the interpretation of the Bible as Christian scripture.” 1 Continue reading The Dance Goes On
- R.R. Reno, series preface in Robert Barron, 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015), xiv. ↩