Thinking After

Author: rjdean76

  • Tolkien and the Adventure of Discipleship: Available Online

    I recently discovered that my article, “Tolkien and the Adventure of Discipleship: Imaginative Resources for a Missional Ecclesiology,” which appeared a little over a year ago in the Canadian Theological Review, can now be electronically downloaded from the website of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association.  The Canadian Evangelical Theological Association is reorganizing in the new year to form the Canadian-American Theological Association, so it’s unclear how long the article will be available online.  So, if you’re interested in reading it, download it now.  The full article can be accessed here. (more…)

  • Fire is Still Coming!: Some Josh Ritter for Advent

    The one year anniversary of Thinking After is fast approaching.  Right around the time I started the blog, I preached an Advent sermon at Tyndale Seminary for the MDiv In-Ministry students.  The sermon was one of my first blog postings.  The theme of judgment sounds forth mightily from many of the traditional texts for the first week of Advent.  Having been encountered afresh by these Scriptures, it seemed like it might worthwhile to re-post last year’s sermon, both for those who may have missed it and those who might like to read it again.  I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a sermon on 2 Peter 3, much less one that includes appearances by the Toronto Blue Jays, Westboro Baptist Church, Karl Barth, Glen Soderholm, a Pizza Pizza theologian, and that has the music of Josh Ritter as its soundtrack. (more…)

  • A Prayer for Christ the King Sunday

    This past Sunday many congregations marked the end of the Christian year by celebrating Christ the King Sunday.  The Feast of Christ the King is a relatively recent addition to the Christian calendar.  It was established as a festal celebration by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and has, in the years that have followed, also begun to be celebrated by many Protestant denominations and congregations.  There is a certain fittingness to the Christian calendar ending with the proclamation, “Christ is King!”  Not only does this resonate with the shape of the biblical narrative itself, it also provides an obvious segue into the season of Advent, where we await the coming of the King.  As I was preparing for worship this past week, I came across a prayer I wrote for worship on Christ the King Sunday back in 2008 that seems like it might also be of use for us today. (more…)

  • “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Audio Series (Part 5)

    In this, the fifth and final, part of my lecture “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Paul, the Kingdom, and Living between the Times, I discuss the contagious faithfulness of Jesus which, as it is transmitted by the Holy Spirit, calls into existence a community of resistance to the regime of Sin and Death.  This section contains some of the most obvious connections to the conference keynote addresses by David Fitch and his new book Faithful Presence. (more…)

  • “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Audio Series (Part 4)

    In Part 4 of my lecture “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Paul, the Kingdom, and Living between the Times, I continue to explore the plight of humanity in bondage.  Standing behind the fallen principalities and powers are the cosmic slaveholders Sin and Death.  Under the reign of Sin and Death, the powers often compete with one another seeking to enlist human beings and demanding that they sacrifice themselves and one another for the sake of ensuring the survival of the principality.  Human beings are taken in by the various deceptive tactics of the powers and find themselves developing a type of perverse love or allegiance for the very forces that seek to hold them in bondage.  For human beings in such a predicament, help can only come into the system from above. (more…)

  • “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Audio Series (Part 3)

    In the previous section of my lecture, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Paul, the Kingdom, and Living between the Times, I argued that the Gospel is the story of the God of Israel who is on mission to save the world that he has created and that he loves.  This is apparent in Galatians 4:4-5, where Paul writes, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children” (NRSV).  This motif of a redemptive mission or liberating invasion suggests that humanity is, in some sense, in captivity. (more…)

  • “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Audio Series (Part 2)

    Below you’ll find the audio for the second part of my presentation – “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Paul, the Kingdom and Living between the Times – from the Kingdom Come conference held at Bayview Glen Alliance Church this past weekend.  Having discussed the riddle of the apparent absence of the kingdom in Paul’s writings in the first part of the talk, in this section of the presentation I begin to consider the eschatological outlook at the heart of Paul’s theology. (more…)

  • “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”: Audio Series (Part 1)

    I had the privilege of participating this past weekend in a conference entitled, “Kingdom Come: Awakening to a Gospel-centred Life” at Bayview Glen Alliance Church in Toronto.  Seeing so many people of varying ages and from all walks of life who were willing to give up a significant part of their weekend to reflect more seriously on what it means to live as God’s people today was itself a wonderful expression of the reality of the Kingdom.  Noted pastor, theologian and author David Fitch challenged us over the course of three presentations to reflect more deeply on the questions:  “What is the Gospel?” “When is the Kingdom?” and “How does the Kingdom Come?”  (more…)

  • The Morning After

    The following reflection was originally posted earlier today on the website of Amberlea Presbyterian Church.

    I imagine that there are many bleary-eyed Americans arriving at their places of work this morning.  I am simply an interested observer in Canada, yet I found myself up into the wee hours of the morning unable to pry myself away from the television coverage of the final stages of what has been an extremely divisive, and often ugly, presidential campaign.  This morning there is extra spring in the steps of many our neighbours to the South who are elated with the surprising election results.  Others, for whom the election did not go as planned, find themselves in a place of sheer despondency.  While it’s understandable that the candidates and those who have worked so hard to support them would feel such emotions, I would suggest that this should not be the case for Christians. (more…)

  • The Ruler of the World Has Not Changed

    After months and months of campaigning the United States presidential campaign has finally come to an end. Millions both within and beyond the borders of the United States now wait with bated breath for the results to come in. While others are finally able to breathe a sigh of relief at the prospect of no longer having to endure the 24-hour news cycle filled with prickly pundits and surly syndicates attempting to yell over top of one another. Sadly, the presidential election campaign is indirectly responsible for what has become by far my most read blog post, in which I questioned journalist, author and former VeggieTales writer Eric Metaxas’ appropriation of the life and legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. (more…)