Creative Space for Wanderers
Chapter 10 Keep Coming Back The mature Christians I have met along the way are those who have failed and have learned to live gracefully with their failure. One of my most consistent problems is taking on too much, too many things at once — overcommitment. Perhaps I lack the ability to set proper boundaries, …
Continue reading “Ragamuffin Gospel: #10 – The Victorious Limp”
Chapter 9 Halftime This chapter reminds of Bob Buford’s book, Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance1. In October of 1995, I transitioned from the Air Force to civilian life–it was time to move into a new season in my life. The truth is, I’m still growing and trying to figure out what’s next, but this hasn’t prevented me …
Chapter 4 Saved Sinners The subtitle for this chapter should be Saved Sinners as Manning uses this term several times directly and indirectly. The emphasis makes sense: we are all sinners, the distinction is only between those who have accepted Christ and those who have not. One of my goals in life is to be an encourager, …
Chapter 2 An intriguing title for a chapter that forced me to look for an appropriate definition. It seems that Manning wants to help us focus on the constant, consistent, even monotonous theme we find throughout the Bible: God’s love. He loves us through creation, through the Fall, in our sinful nature, in our best and …
Continue reading “Ragamuffin Gospel: #2 – Magnificent Monotony”
Summary The opening story in this chapter depicts what appears to be a conflicting account of a tragic accident. This is ultimately resolved to show how both parts of the story were correct and sets the stage for improving our understanding of how the gospel accounts are told from different perspectives and how this actually …
Summary From Dawkins we read, “Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes around the sun” (The Selfish Gene, 1976) and “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid …
Continue reading “Ten Questions: #2 – Didn’t Evolution put God out of a job?”
Chapter 1 In this chapter Manning provides a strong argument that the institutional church in America is moving in the wrong direction, with the wrong message and misguided leadership. “The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.” Far too much emphasis is being placed on “what …
Continue reading “Ragamuffin Gospel: #1 – Something is Radically Wrong”
Just a week before Passover, Jesus arrives at Bethany. The Pharisees and chief priests are on high alert, looking for Jesus, wanting to arrest him and complete their mission to kill him. Apparently they have Lazarus in their sights as well. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, pours expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus–crazy thing …
In this passage we find the Zebedee’s approaching Jesus to ask for a privilege: the brothers, James and John, want to be seated to the left and right of Jesus–at his side. Why would they ask such a thing? Most of the times I’ve read this, I just think they are being foolish, even self-serving, …
Continue reading “James and John and Mom — Request for Honored Positions”