My friend Jamie Clark-Soles, who teaches at Perkins School of Theology, has written a very nice piece in the Huffington Post related to our engagement with our neighbors, both on a personal and national level. If you’re interested, you can check out the article here.

Recently I had the privilege of giving the convocation address at United Theological Seminary. I called the address “Reading for Renewal.” It was about reading the Bible in ways that contribute to the renewal of the church. If you’d like to take a look at it, it’s posted on the United website here. Enjoy!

I’ve been reading John Webster’s Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch.Very interesting stuff. On p. 43 he makes a claim that was particularly striking and insightful: “All other Christian doctrines are applications or corollaries of the one doctrine, the doctrine of the Trinity, in which the doctrine of the church, no less than the doctrine of…

United Theological Seminary has just launched a new website dedicated to church renewal. This site is intended to be a resource for all who are interested in the Holy Spirit’s work in renewal within our churches today. Is has contains blogs, info on new books on renewal, dates and info on upcoming renewal conferences, and…

My friend and colleague at United Jason Vickers has just come out with a new book, Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal, published by Baylor University Press. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.  It comes out of five years of teaching our introductory level course, “Foundations for Church Renewal,” as well…

“Would to God that all the party names and unscriptural phrases and forms which have divided the Christian world were forgot, and that we might all agree to sit down together, as humble, loving disciples, at the feet of our common Master, to hear His word, to imbibe His Spirit, and to transcribe His life…

I returned yesterday from the West Ohio Annual Conference. It was good to see old friends and to make new ones, and to be about the business of holy conferencing. I know many people would say that annual conferences do not always embody the ideal of holy conferencing, but, at least in West Ohio, I…

It seems like a lot of people who have been criticizing Rob Bell for Love Wins haven’t read the book. This is not intellectually virtuous, to say the least. Regardless, I did read it recently (ok, I listened to the audio book) and I thought it was extremely interesting and helpful. What Bell articulates so…

My friend and colleague Jason Vickers was on tv yesterday discussing the impending apocalypse. You can check it out here: Dayton’s News Source :: Good Morning – Fox 45 In The Morning: Is Tomorrow the Last Day?

I’ve recently been appointed as Academic Dean at United (effective July 1), so I’ve been thinking through the ways in which I conceive of the work of theological education. Here’s a brief statement of what I’ve come up with. Of course, it’s subject to revision, so if you have comments, I’d like to receive them.…