One of the most interesting books I have read recently is by Garth Rosell entitled, The Surprising Work of God: Harold John Ockenga, Billy Graham, and the Rebirth of Evangelicalism. Rosell, a church history professor and leading expert in revivals, explores the life of Harold J. Ockenga and his relationship with Billy Graham.  Ockenga is […]

One of the great privileges which are mine as President of Asbury Theological Seminary is to give a final charge to our graduating seniors.   This is my 2011 charge to the graduates of the Seminary. 2 Cor. 4:8-10 (NIV) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;   9 […]

By now, everyone has heard that Harold Camping, the President of Family Radio,  and his followers predicted that the world would end on May 21, 2011.   The media has ridiculed this group for their foolishness and the waste of millions of dollars in full page ads in USA Today and other major outlets, billboards and […]

May 12th was an amazing day at Asbury Theological Seminary.  We had the privilege of hosting Vice Chancellor Douglas Carew and Provost William Udotong on our Wilmore campus.  Dr. Carew is the senior leader of Africa International University in Kenya and Dr. Udotong is the senior leader of the West Africa Theological Seminary in Nigeria.  […]

The death of Osama bin Laden has reminded me of the recent discussion surrounding Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins, about who might end up in hell.  It is interesting that modern discussions about such matters invariably find a way to put ourselves in the category of the “righteous” and hell is reserved for Hitler, Pol […]

We are still basking in the wonderful good news of Easter.  During this Eastertide, I am reminded afresh of the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This past January, my wife and I spent two weeks in the Holy Land.  No words can really ever capture the power of walking this land.  One of […]

John Buchanan is the thoughtful editor of the Christian Century.  In a recent editorial (See, March 8, 2011 issue) entitled “Living Traditions” he bemoans an article which had recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal (Feb. 4) entitled, “Where have all the Presbyterians gone” The article had pointed out the rapid decline of “mainline” churches […]

Those of you who have studied church history will remember that one of the most sustained conflicts in the church was over the use of icons or images in Christian worship.  The debate raged for centuries between the seventh and the end of the ninth century.  An icon refers to a two dimensional image of […]

This blog completes an eight part series on the distinctive of Wesleyan catechesis.  These blogs on catechesis are actually part of a larger project I am exploring through my blogs as to how we rebuild the meta-narrative in the church today.  One of the earliest writers to recognize the collapse of modernity as we in […]

We are exploring the role of doctrine in Wesleyan catechesis.  For Wesley, theology arises out of a response to God’s prior initiative, lest it become a dead letter of endless intellectual speculation un-tethered from a vibrant, warm heart.  The third and final aspect of this we will call, The World is My Parish This third […]