Category Archives: Uncategorized

“Muscle & Shovel”: On the Solution to It All

We are considering Michael Shank’s book Muscle and a Shovel. I begin republishing a post from February 2, 2008 — (1 Pet 5:5b-6) All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives … Continue reading

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“Muscle and a Shovel”: An Introduction and a Rerun

For reasons that are kind of hard to explain, I think it’s important that I return to the book Muscle and a Shovel by Michael Shank and take up the arguments made there in some detail. I realize that many longtime … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 12 (A Little New Perspective)

We’re getting close to the end. Really. Part of N.T. Wright’s contribution to contemporary theology is his understanding of the place of Israel in the great, grand narrative of scripture. For most of us, Israel is like a mistake God … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 11 (Back to Romans)

Back to Romans Early in Romans, Paul plainly alludes to the several Old Testament passages we covered in the last post. (Rom 2:28-29 ESV) 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 10 (The Moral Law Within, Part 2)

Jeremiah explains that God will make a new covenant with this people. (Jer 31:31-34 ESV) 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 9 (The Moral Law Within, Part 1)

Deuteronomy and the Spirit Imagine the scene. Nearly all the Israelites who’d left Egypt with Moses had died in the desert. The next generation — desert-hardened, accustomed to traveling as led by God’s special presence in the camp — prepared … Continue reading

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Social Media for Normal Churches

My article “Social Media for Normal Churches” was posted at Wineskins earlier today. Please click over and check it out.” While we’re on the subject of Wineskins, Matt Dabbs has invested countless hours in making the archived articles available — … Continue reading

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Paul and the Faithfulness of God: Baptism and Justification

We’ve been considering N. T. Wright’s newly released Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God) — a massive and masterful consideration of Paul’s theology. Wright briefly (by his standards) discusses the connection of justification with … Continue reading

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Moderation Fail

I woke up this morning only to find that every comment was being moderated by the spam software. It was a conflict between the caching software and the spam software. The webhost fixed it as soon as I told him … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 8 (Rightly Dividing the Law of Moses)

So just what parts of the Law of Moses survive? Do we honor the Sabbath? The Sabbath as Sabbath or Sunday as Sabbath? I bring up the Sabbath because it’s a good example of just how muddy our thinking can … Continue reading

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