Bad Bible Proof-Texts by Craig Keener

"5 Passages Your Pastor Wishes You'd Stop Taking out of Context"

5 Passages Your Pastor Wishes You'd Stop Taking out of Context

by Kyle Rohane

cities as "solitary places that are populated by millions"

photo credit

"I was riding the subway on the way to the studio and noticed a man walking along the carriage leaning forward into the motion of the train.  Life is always a question of balance and orientation--even in New York where everything is signposted, it is still easy to lose your way.

Cities offer many distractions away from our essential needs which feed the hungry soul; It may not be the nourishment for which we are really searching,  but when hungry we search for that which is closest.

Losing yourself and finding yourself are separated only by a thin line; in New York that line is especially thin.

There are solitary places that are populated by millions."

-David Fields, liner notes for "The Planet Sleeps"

See also:

DEAD MAN ABOARD A.M. RUSH SUBWAY CORPSE RODE THE NO. 1 TRAIN FOR HOURS

Bruce Cockburn on faith

I highly recommend Cathleen Falsani's writings and interviews. Here's audio (transcript here) of a 2006 interview she did with Bruce Cockburn

Kingdom violence: WWSD?

Here is audio of a message I gave several years ago at a home gathering on an intriguing text:

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,
and the violent take it by force."  Matthew 11:12

...at least, that's  how the NRSV styles it.

One of the  several  "gnotty" issues with this text is that translations take it in several different...even contradictory... ways.

Of course, "Whatsup with the violence here?" must be tackled.  How do we deal with the violence in the text without doing violence to the text?

This was

my  somewhat successful tab at looking at this text sans versitis, catching the context,  giving midrash  a voice in the mix, and throwing out a working interpretation of a tough text.

One thing I do here,  as I have done for some time now--even in much more formal "sermons"-- is letting the saints speak.. so Kevin,  Ivana, Scott, St John,

 Bobby, Sonya and Keltic Ken et al drop into the message vital points that would have been missed had I just been the talking head.

I love open source/open sores church.

Eugene Peterson: "megachurches are not churches"

Eugene Peterson:

"I think the thing that’s most disturbing is the megachurch.
                                   because megachurches are not churches. 
My feeling is that when you’re a pastor, 
                         you know the people’s names.
 When 5,000 people come into the church,
                         you don’t know anybody’s name.

 I don’t think you can be a pastor 
                       with just a bunch of anonymous people out there. 
In the megachurch, well, there’s no relationship with anybody.
 I think the nature of the church is relational. 
If you don’t know these people that you’re praying with
                                                                      and talking with
                                                                      and listening to, 
                                                                                      what do you have?
 I feel pretty strongly about that."
            -Link