The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  Practice "Where are you?" It’s an honor to be here, to be asked to encourage ministry leaders who serve here and in this region. I stubbornly and doggedly am convinced that pastors, shepherds, teachers, spiritual directors  in all their forms and degrees do the most important job in the world.  The greatest challenge of ministry is finishing—and finishing well. How do we become people that can endure till the end? Better yet, how can we become people who thrive?  I don’t pretend to have the answer to this question. But I would like to share with you a practice that I have found to be sustaining and life giving. Orienting Your Day with “Where are you?” For the past three years (with varying degrees of consistency), I have incorporated a practice into my morning routine—one that emerged both as a result of my study of Genesis 3, but also from becoming more aware of some of my own self-sabotaging patterns. Rather than starting my day journaling about all the things I need to

The Book of Revelation is about "works."  To be more precise, the Book of Revelation is about how works are a condition for journeying successfully through the wilderness of Babylon (Revelation 17-18) into the Promised Land of the New Jerusalem/New Garden (Revelation 21-22).  We get a glimpse of the importance of the work that disciples of Jesus are called to by attending to two images of Jesus in the opening chapter.  Two Orienting Visions of Jesus In Revelation 1:5-6, we see that the accomplishments of Jesus are described after the pattern of Exodus, that paradigmatic event that demonstrated YHWH's power to deliver his people. In John's description, the death of Jesus functions like the blood of the Passover, liberating (literally "loosing" or "unbinding") God's people from the tyranny of sin. Just like the first exodus, this liberation comes with a responsibility, work to do: the work of being priests to the God and Father of Jesus Christ. 

One of the reasons I enjoy researching and teaching in the latter part of the New Testament (e.g., 1-2 Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation) is because these often unfamiliar texts say things in ways that we are not accustomed to hearing them said, especially as it relates to how we conceive of life in Christ. And sometimes this different way of saying things runs up against what we "know" to be true.  In my most recent go-around at teaching Revelation, I have been struck by this simple, pervasive, and yet often-overlooked fact: John's Apocalypse is about works!  To be even more precise,  John's Apocalypse is about being saved by works! In the midst of the fantastic and perplexing imagery of Revelation, especially in chapters 6-20, it is easy to loose the forest for the trees. But, as I will try to show (in the next three posts), the majestic extravagance of Revelation 4-5 and the shocking horror of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls are in the service of this most fun

 You are what you love. You become like what you worship.  You are guided by a vision of the good life. You've been invited to share in God's life of love. You live the given life, not the planned one.  You are saved by grace.  You are saved by works. I believe. Help my unbelief.  Kelly Liebengood

Each new academic year, approximately 20 million students will attend college in the United States. The demographics reveal that these students are as diverse as they have ever been. And yet, even though these 20 million students bring with them as many different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, they nevertheless all share one thing in common: they all come to college to find their place in this world. This quest to find one’s place in the world comes in the form of a number of different questions that students ask as they step onto the college campus: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the point of life? Is there a point to life? Do I belong? Where do I belong here? Who are my people? What am I going to do for a living? Who will I marry? (Will I ever marry?) Who will my friends be? (Will I make any friends?). In other words, each year students come on to our campus seeking to discern three inter-related themes: identity, purpose, and belonging. This is part of what makes the

Does the Book of Revelation contradict the claim that God is love?  This is one of the questions we will be wrestling with in my course on the Book of Revelation as we patiently read through what is a complex and perplexing text. Throughout the history of its interpretation, on occasion students of the book have come to the conclusion that the notion that God is fundamentally loving is irreconcilable with message and imagery of John's Apocalypse (this is another name for the Book of Revelation), especially in Revelation 6-20.  Interestingly, their are two bookends, or framing devices (more technically known as  inclusios ) in Revelation that seem to suggest that the book is ultimately about God's love. The first inclusio can be found in Revelation 1:4-8 / 22:12-21; the second framing device is located in the message to the first of the seven churches and the last of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.  Inclusio 1: Revelation 1:4-8 / 22:12-21 In the opening greeting to the r

What Do We Study the Bible for? An Introduction Why do we study the Book of Revelation (or any other biblical studies course offered in our curriculum)? What is knowledge of the book for ? What should we seek to get out of engaging with Scripture? How we respond to these questions will depend, in part, on the vantage point from which we read Revelation (or any other biblical text). If you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus, the life you have been called to is a life in which you have been invited to receive and enjoy God's love and in which you have been called upon to faithfully participate in God's life of love for the sake of the church and the world. And that reality undergirds, shapes, and animates how we read the Bible. We catch a glimpse of this life we have been invited into in what is perhaps an unexpected place, the prayer life of Jesus. Prayer is often where we find one's deepest expressions of want, longing, and desire, where we learn what matters most