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Category

Theology

• 01.13.08
  Two Quotes…
  Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)

  ... from class this week that have been rolling through my mind (well, they may be close paraphrases, but you get the idea): Our ministries are not ministries to the world, but to God the Father God is not a theologian, but a minister Speaking of class--I was afraid this would happen--my amazon.com wish list has grown my six more items. Crap.
  
  
• 01.12.08
  Discomfort as Normative Ecclesiology
  Ecclesiology, Seminary, Theology (2)

  In the class I am currently taking at Luther, we are studying the theology of ministry. More specifically, we are studying the "theology of the cross" as a foundation for ministry. To put it way too simplistically, the theology of the cross is essentially the understanding that the place where God breaks into the world and acts is in the midst of human suffering (the point of ex nihilo). Perhaps this theology may not be sufficient to be the only lens through which we understand God and the world, but it is certainly a lens. If this theology ...
  
  
• 01.10.08
  Adventures in Seminary
  Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)

  It has begun. I'm taking my first seminary class at Luther Seminary (where it is currently 34 degrees--fairly mild) called Ministry with Children, Youth, and Family: Theological and Strategic Frameworks (with Andrew Root). Or it could be called Theology for Ministry with Children, Youth, and Families, if that makes more sense. Two of the foundational texts for the class are: The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World by Douglas John Hall. This is a brief systematic-ish theology looking through the lens of the theology of the cross. It was pretty good and ...
  
  
• 11.16.07
  Neo-Youth Ministry Interlude
  Christianity, Neo-Youth Ministry, Theology, Youth Ministry (2)

  Sorry to interrupt the regularly-scheduled Neo-Youth Ministry Series programming, but I wanted to address something about the series. You may notice I don't talk about the Bible much in these posts. There is a reason for that. Quite simply, I'm trying to keep my posts fairly short. I want these to be able to be read easily the first time you glance at it. I could write longer posts, but then you'd need to schedule reading my blog into your calendar. I don't want that. (Nor do I think anyone would actually do that. Well, ...
  
  
• 11.15.07
  Revisiting “Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry”
  Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Neo-Youth Ministry, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)

  Yesterday, I posted on Andrew Root's brand-new book, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry. I spoke with pretty high regard for the book, saying, While reading the book, I came to the realization that, to my knowledge, there is no youth ministry book that is as theologically deep and rich as Root’s. Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster’s book The Godbearing Life is the only work close to Root’s in nature, but even it does not probe the depths of a particular theological subject like Root’s. In my estimation, Root’s book will be noted as being the first in a line ...
  
  
• 10.10.07
  Halo 3
  Christianity, Ecclesiology, Theology, Youth Ministry (7)

  I love it when theologically astute people comment on youth ministry issues. D.W. Congdon, Princeton M.Div. Student, has commented on the recent NY Times article about youth ministries using Halo 3 to attract a crowd. Good thoughts. A quote: If a church wants to be relevant to teenage boys, there are plenty of other ways, including handing out pornography and offering beer-on-tap. You could throw in condoms and cigarettes and call it a night. But this raises an important questions: Why Halo 3? Why are exceedingly violent video games par for the course, but bare breasts on a ...
  
  
• 10.02.07
  Prayer and Capitalism
  Christianity, Ecclesiology, Theology (0)

  There's a great post over at Inhabitatio Dei. An excerpt: [I]n the actual practice of making decisions and establishing agendas and practices in Christian ministries today, it is the flow of money or its absence that is accorded primal theological significance. How decisions get made regarding the shape and focus of the ministerial life is determined, with next to no exception by the direction in which monetary capital is flowing... What is the significance of this, theologically speaking? What it really shows is that capital functions, at least in the Western evangelical context as an immanent form of ...
  
  
• 09.22.07
  Kevin Vanhoozer on Youth Ministry
  Christianity, Neo-Youth Ministry, Theology, Youth Ministry (1)

  Okay, well, he doesn't exactly comment on youth ministry. But in an interview at The Exiled Preacher, Vanhoozer is asked about the pastor's task as theologian. I've argued elsewhere that a youth minister has a similar theological responsibility, and think there are obvious parallels. Guy Davies: In the Drama of Doctrine, you suggested that the theologian is a "dramaturge", whose task is to enable the pastor -director to understand the biblical script. But not all pastors make time read great works of theology. They are too busy preparing sermons, visiting their people, organising the church's evangelistic programme and ...
  
  
• 08.31.07
  The Covenant of YHWH and the Death of Jesus
  Christianity, Theology (1)

  Warning: possible heretical thoughts may follow. What follows isn't exactly a deeply held dogmatic belief (in fact, I would say I don't even believe it), but something that has been rolling around in my head for a few years. It is more the outworking of theological creativity and imagination. I have read fairly widely over the past few years and have not found anyone even suggest the following interpretation of the death of Jesus, so I am reluctant to push this without further investigation. With that disclaimer, here we go. I remember as a sophomore in ...
  
  
• 08.21.07
  Emerging Church & Academy, Part 2
  Ecclesiology, Theology, emerging church (0)

  I wrote a post a few days ago saying that the emerging church is the result of the academy being brought into the church. This afternoon I read this quote on the Deep Church website: [T]he emerging church conversation has been invigorated by the energy, life and creativity that has come from some significant advances in theology and biblical studies in the last 30 years. In part, emerging church writers are popularising and applying the work of hard-nosed theologians (the likes of N.T. Wright, Stanley Hauwerwas and Walter Brueggemann). Interesting. The full post can be found here.
  
  

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