Author Archives: Jay F Guin

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.

The Blue Parakeet: The Story and Its Plot (Expanded)

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Jay F Guin

McKnight explains that the Story of the Bible is held together by 5 themes – * Creating Eikons (Genesis 1 – 2): Theme is Oneness * Cracked Eikons (Genesis 3 – 11): Theme is Otherness * Covenant Community (Genesis 12 … Continue reading →

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The Holy Spirit: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I get emails — I have been reading through your blog material for quite some time now and I appreciate you so much. You are addressing so much and reaffirming to me that I am doing the right thing by … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Spirit and Providence, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

How to Argue Like a Christian: False Dichotomies

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Your wife walks in the door fresh from the local dress shop. “Just look at this beautiful dress I bought!” she says. You notice that the dress is indeed very beautiful — too beautiful! “Ahem. It looks really nice,” you … Continue reading →

Posted in How to Argue Like a Christian, Uncategorized | Tagged | 11 Comments

It’s (Almost) Friday! The Franchise Agreement

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Jay F Guin

The other day, we elders were chatting about the possiblity of canceling Wednesday night services for part of the summer.The volunteers in our children’s ministry are worn out, and the school year has gotten so long that the summer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches of Christ, Uncategorized | Tagged | 30 Comments

How to Argue Like a Christian: Over-generalizing and Not Listening

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Jay F Guin

It’s awfully easy to find in any group of people a few outliers — people identified with the group who aren’t really representative of the group. I mean, no group of human beings is free of sin or foolishness, and … Continue reading →

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Dialogue with Robert Prater, Part 3

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Robert responded to my post of yesterday, and I’m glad he did as he raises questions that need to be addressed. As before, his original comment iis italics. This is a very long post, but Robert advocates for his position … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Instrumental Music, Uncategorized | Tagged | 12 Comments

The Blue Parakeet: Reading the Bible as Story

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Then and now McKnight notes that most blue parakeets — passages in the Bible that we disagree over — can be dealt with by: That was then; this is now. The trick is knowing when to apply it and when … Continue reading →

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The Blue Parakeet: The Right Use of Tradition

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Jay F Guin

McKnight continues explaining the right way to read the scriptures. The way of returning to retrieve it all is not the biblical way. The biblical way is the ongoing adoption of the past and adaptation to new conditions and to … Continue reading →

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Dialogue with Robert Prater, Part 2

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Jay F Guin

Robert Prater wrote a lengthy, thoughtful comment to my earlier post on elision (skipping steps of logic). As I hate typing in those little comment boxes, I respond by means of this post. His comment is restated here in italics. … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Instrumental Music, Uncategorized | Tagged | 21 Comments

How to Argue Like a Christian: Elision (Skipping Steps) (and Part 1 of the Dialogue with Robert Prater)

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Jay F Guin

To “elide” is to omit something. We Southerners tend to elide our trailing g’s — that is, our trailin’ g’s. And some of our thought leaders have a habit of eliding critical steps in their argumentation. An example is Kerry … Continue reading →

Posted in How to Argue Like a Christian, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments