Alan Johnson on Missional-Ecumenism and ACT3
One of the truly great blessings in my life is having friends who are older and wiser. Some of these dear friends were my professors when I was a student at Wheaton College (1969-71, B.A.) and (1971-73, M.A.). One such friend, Dr. Alan Johnson, taught me in several classes. A very memorable one was a class in apologetics. We met at 8:00 a.m. three times a week. I sat on the front row asking many, many questions. (By the way, one of Alan’s TA’s some years later was Michael Gerson, the well-known speech writer and adviser to President George W. Bush.)
I was engaged in direct evangelism with students at Northern Illinois University when I took Alan’s course in apologetics. This was the early 1970s and there were lots of questions. Dr. Johnson was a great source for me at the time. I really soaked up his class.
In 2010 Alan edited a great book, 
How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals (Zondervan). I did Chapter One, not because it is a […]
Does Bible Knowledge Equal Following Jesus in Faith, Hope and Love?
Last year a Barna Group study used a series of questions to determine the Bible knowledge level of people in various US cities. It was no surprise that the cities with the highest rate of Bible knowledge were in the South and Southeast. The cities with the lowest percentage of people with Bible knowledge were in the Northeast and the far West, with the Midwest a little more in between the two extremes. None of this data surprises me at all based upon what I know about churches, people and the various subcultures of America.
Here is the question I’d like to see surveyed: “How much does knowledge of the Bible equate with the greatest virtues of the Christian life – faith, hope and love?” What does Bible knowledge mean in terms of involvement with the least and the poorest among us? What does it mean for marriage and family life? What about prayer and contemplation? Sadly, it is my broad experience that many places where Bible knowledge is highest people are far more unlikely to understand that […]
God Loves Me in My Muscular Dystrophy: A Guest Blog
God wants to show us his love for us in the circumstances he providentially arranges for our lives to be lived in. When all is right and rosy in our lives, it is quite easy and natural to arrive at this conclusion. God has blessed me; he must love me. Yet, as all of us who live in this world know, life is not always lived in the Big Rock Candy Mountains. We have troubles and they are never in short supply. If pleasure and ease are the barometers of goodness, it is far from evident in our natural sight that a good and benevolent God rules the universe when there is so much pain and suffering in it for the creatures he has made. By faith, however, we are shown the sufferings of One Man as the very content of God’s love for us. This is Jesus Christ, who through his suffering and resurrection offers to unite us to the life of God. In and with our Lord Jesus Christ, then, God demonstrates his mighty love […]
When Christians Defend Jesus Why Do They Lop Off Ears?
My good friend Tom Tollet is an elder in a Baptist church in Memphis (TN). He is a faithful Bible teacher who became one of the best friends my late mom and dad had in their final years in Tennessee. He served for many years with FedEx and now operates his own family business. The following reflection was sent to me some time ago and I now use it with permission.
As I prepare to teach from Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God” I meditate on how the Lord was a friend of sinners while preaching an uncompromising Sermon on the Mount. How do I do that today? I suspect it won’t exactly look like August 1st.
I understand the call to defend marriage and oppose the power plays of certain city mayors, but doesn’t it seem like we simply respond in kind to the opposition ….power for power, rhetoric for rhetoric, manipulation for manipulation? In other words: did August 1st have the aroma of Christ? I’m sure Mike Huckabee would say: don’t be a disciple of mine but of Christ. But do we recognize the difference that makes in attitude […]
An ACT3 Interview with Dr. Norberto Saracco
Dr. Norberto Saracco is the senior pastor of a very large church in Buenos Aires. He is also the president of a seminary with 8,000 students. Norberto has also been actively involved in the Lausanne Movement for many years. Norberto and I met through the Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation, which I have led for several years now. He has attended both of our gatherings in Mundelein, both in 2013 and 2014.
We recently put the video of this year’s public meeting of this gathering on our ACT3 page. It is over 100 minutes long and is worth watching. Besides Norberto you will see and hear Fr. Robert Barron, Fr. Thomas Baima and me. Dialogue from each of us, and the audience, follows.
When Norberto was in Mundelein in September ACT3 sat down with him for a personal interview. Today I share this interview for the first time. Since Norberto is a close, personal friend of Pope Francis, having worked with him in evangelism and prayer in Argentina for a decade, you will find his comments most interesting. You will also see why I am so thrilled with this […]
Lausanne Catholic Evangelical Conversation (Sep 11, 2014)
Today’s post includes the only public Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation meeting that we had in September. Twenty-six people, thirteen Catholics and thirteen Evangelicals, prayed, shared, discussed and debated (in the very best sense of a charitable debate). We learned from one another and some of the brightest moments were late at night in informal times. We agree we will meet again and we will add a day so we can continue to pursue love and build trust. We believe the kairos moment for our concerns is right now.
After an opening private dialogue on Thursday, September 11, we shared a meal together. Then we invited seminarians and local friends to come to the campus for a presentation. The dialogue that follows our presentation includes responses from people who, as you will quickly see, were not screened. Some questions were asked and some “sermons” were preached. The questions are quite good. The sermons, well you can respond as you watch these folks speak.
The two major presenters in the event were Fr. Robert Barron and Rev. Dr. Norberto Saracco. Fr. Thomas Baima and I introduced the speakers, responded to their […]
Stay Awake for Advent (A Sermon)
Advent began last Sunday, November 30. I had the joy of preaching, and leading the divine liturgy, at Lutheran Church of the Master in Carol Stream, Illinois. This is the audio of my sermon based upon the lectionary Gospel text in Mark 13:24-37. I pray that this sermon will encourage you in your worship, edification and spiritual transformation during this wonderful new beginning to the church year.
https://soundcloud.com/act3network/stay-awake-for-advent-mark-13
Peter Kreeft on Biblical Ecumenism
Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and at the King’s College (Empire State Building), in New York City. This means that Kreeft, a Catholic, teaches at both a Catholic and an evangelical college, making him very unique in so many ways. He is a regular contributor to several Christian publications, is in wide demand as a speaker at conferences, and is the author of over 67 books.
I have never personally met Dr. Kreeft but value his writing and teaching as highly as that of almost any contemporary Christian philosopher and thinker. I require students of mine to read his work because he is among the very best when it comes to popular Christian thought that is serious and practical at the same time. Once a Reformed Protestant Kreeft is today a devout Catholic. But he has never lost his love for the catholic church. He has some of the most insightful things to say about missional-ecumenism of any writer I know today. A friend sent me a two-minute audio clip that underscores […]
The Bible and Science Debate: How Shall We Interpret Genesis?
If I were to pick three highly skilled biblical scholars/exegetes, who also profoundly understand science (two of them – McGrath and Polkinghorne – have a PhD degree in hard science), to speak clearly about the way to properly read the Book of Genesis then I would pick these three theologians. I have met two of them and have read all three for decades now. Perhaps no debate has more unnecessarily divided the church than the raging debate over science and Bible. In particular, it comes down to this: “How do we understand Genesis?” My own thinking has changed about this question, in fact several times over the course of my lifetime. I would now line up well with what these three orthodox and confessional Christian ministers/teachers say in this outstanding video.
In some ways this is one of the most helpful and important videos that I have ever shared on my blog. I hope you will take the twelve minutes needed to watch it carefully. This video should not only disabuse you of the many numerous bad ideas about reading Genesis but it will also help you […]
