Over at Bart Ehrman’s house …

“Nearly 900 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill listened to Southern Seminary professor Timothy Paul Jones declare during a lecture series last month that the historical reliability of New Testament accounts meets or exceeds expectations used to prove the historicity of other events.”

Of course, UNC Chapel Hill is the home of now-famous New Testament skeptic Bart Ehrman (author of Misquoting Jesus, an attack on the textual reliability of the NT documents). This is great! Read the story HERE.

Bully pulpit for gay community?

“As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws ….” Read what else Obama had to say on this matter HERE.

Kept: The Message of Jude

A devotional commentary from W. David Phillips. The book of Jude is a pearl waiting to be discovered — a small, but potent writing that covers two main topics: (1) faithfulness to the Gospel of Christ and (2) keeping ourselves from embracing a distorted message. Look for this new offering from Missional Press.

Larry Norman (4/8/1947 - 2/24/2008)

I saw Larry Norman only once, live and in concert, at Myrtle Beach, SC, when I was very young. And he made a lasting impression — a solitary figure, with guitar in hand, the longest hair I had ever seen on a man, standing on one leg, singing in that “unique” voice of his a word I had only begun to hear and hadn’t nearly begun to grasp. But I was hooked … on the music and the message. And some of the very first things I ever learned to play on a guitar were Larry Norman’s. And some of the very first biblical critiques of culture I ever heard were Larry Norman’s. I went on to earn two degrees in theology, but I still play my guitar, and I remember Larry’s songs.

My heart is sad at his passing, but on the 24th of February, Larry Norman took the ultimate degree in theology, and sings now as never before. Well done, my brother!

For all of us “ordinary pastors”

“For pastors like myself with average gifts, Dr. Don Carson has given us a unique biography of the life and ministry of an ordinary pastor—his dad. It’s titled, Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Crossway, 2008). If you are like me, this book will provide you with an invaluable reminder of what is most important to pastoral ministry—faithfulness.”

See C. J. Mahaney’s review of Don Carson’s latest book HERE ….

The Call to Preach

“Has God called you to ministry? Though all Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ, God calls certain persons to serve the Church as pastors and other ministers. Writing to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man aspires to be a pastor, ‘it is a fine work he aspires to do.’ [I Timothy 3:1, NASB] Likewise, it is a high honor to be called of God into the ministry of the Church. How do you know if God is calling you?”

Check out Al Mohler’s thoughts on discerning the call to preach HERE …

New Publishing Venture

I am honored to say that I’ve been invited to participate, as a member of the editorial review board, in a new publishing venture named Missional Press. W. David Phillips is the visionary and founder behind this endeavor, and also serves as pastor of of Mission Fellowship in Middleton, Delaware (while also doing a doctoral degree at George Fox Seminary — busy guy!).

Missional Press provides publishing services to authors exploring Missional topics. We will publish fiction and non-fiction books focused around Missional theology, Missional ministry, cultural exegesis, biblical studies and global involvement. Take a look at the site at Missional Press.

The New Look!

No, not me! This is the new look of “Views from the Hill!” I was looking for something that was much more flexible, customizable, and would allow for a more robust kind of site than could be gotten with the usual sort of Wordpress themes. There’s still a long way to go, as I’ve only begun working on the layout and the “look and feel,” as well as the kinds of content I want to include. My goal is for “BibleDriven” to become a much more dynamic and useful resource to its readers.

Where are we going … and who’s really driving?

I read somewhere recently, “Evangelicalism is dying for the discovery of the value of good theology, while managerial pragmatism is all but killing the soul of our enterprise.” It stopped me dead in my reading tracks. The unnameable distraction, that gnawing anxiety that something wasn’t quite right, suddenly stood before me bald-faced. It’s so easy to slip over into “ad-ministering” in the place of “ministering,” and to think (or at least assume) that the cause of church and Kingdom is won on the field of management technique and organizational structure. Not to say, mind you, that good management and proper organization are unimportant and can be ignored. But there is no secret formula to the life and ministry of the church, as if finding and wording a perfect mission statement, and then crafting a compelling vision statement, and then devising a great strategy is necessarily going to accomplish our well-documented goals within our time-bound schedule.

I’m just a little uncomfortable with that. It’s too mechanical, too mathematical. Besides, all of our “mission/vision/strategy/purpose-driven” stuff can easily mask a thorough-going pragmatism that is far removed from the biblical emphases of faithfulness, love, service, patience, suffering, and perseverance. I, for one, want to slow the “drive” down a bit and reconsider the destination.

Journeys

Let me make a quick book recommendation:

The book is available from Missional Press. And as a special pre-publication offer, Missional Press is offering the book for just $12.99, $2.00 off the retail price of $14.99. Check Amazon.com and other book retailers for the book as well. Read more