Bringing the Word to Life

Pope Francis and a New Reformation?

Leave a Comment / Current Events, Leadership and Spirituality, Personal, The Missional Church / By /

When a friend posted on Facebook “White smoke!” I turned on the television today and wrapped myself in the NBC coverage of the announcement of the new Catholic pope. As a cradle Catholic (who changed lanes into the Presbyterian church at age 22), I have witnessed the election of five popes in my lifetime. Experience as a Presbyterian pastor, leadership of a session, and organizational executive roles have given me only an inkling of the burden this man will bear as leader of over 1 billion souls worldwide. If that thought is staggering to lowly me, imagine how the question […]

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The Bible—Hearing the Promise Is Not Always Easy

Leave a Comment / "The Bible" on History Channel, PCUSA, Spiritual Disciplines, Teaching / By /

Monday I gave a rundown on the plot elements and poetic licenses issued for the second installment of The Bible on History Channel. Today let’s go back to a theme that was evident in the first episode and see if it carries through the second. That would be the voice of God: what God said, to whom, and how they knew it was God talking. In the first episode, you remember that Noah, Abraham, and Moses all reported hearing God give them specific instructions, which in all cases were preposterous but necessary for God’s plan to unfold. In week two,

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The Bible—Episode 2: Homeland

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In my quest for enrichment material to aid my Bible teaching, I am watching with interest a dramatic rendition of the Bible in ten hours of television. The second installment in History Channel’s five-part miniseries The Bible covers the period in Israel’s history from the conquest of Jericho (from the book of Joshua) through King David’s later reign (through 2 Samuel 12). We witness in vivid and violent detail four main chapters in Israel’s life: Conquest of Jericho (the two Israelite spies, Rahab’s help and redemption, the fall of Jericho’s walls, the taking of the city) Period of the Judges

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Worship As Pastoral Care

Leave a Comment / Marriage Definition, Moral Authority, PCUSA / By /

The presentation at a recent Covenant Network gathering by Plains and Peaks EP Dan Saperstein on “Marriage Equality in the PCUSA” is an articulate and careful assessment of political realities within our denomination. Dan is what I would call a moderate liberal, although in this talk he embraced all the progressive watchwords, concepts, and assumptions familiar to those who have debated sexuality issues for years. He represented well the dilemmas we have faced; and while I disagree with his conclusions, I think his characterization of conservatives in his speech was fair and balanced. So this post today should not be

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Hearing God’s Voice

Leave a Comment / "The Bible" on History Channel, Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, Lent, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

Yesterday, in my review of The Bible: Episode One, I mentioned the voice of God as quiet and young-sounding. Noah, Abraham and Moses unmistakably heard God’s voice and distinguished it from their own inner voices. Consequently, they gave great weight to the message they heard. Sarah needed a little convincing—I mean, if your spouse came home and said, “God spoke to me today, and we’re moving to a place he will show us when we get there,” what are you going to say? “Are you feeling all right? Are you having delusions?” It’s just not the sort of thing one

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“The Bible”—All About the Promise

Leave a Comment / "The Bible" on History Channel, It All Started in the Garden, Teaching, Theological Reflection / By /

Last night’s opening installment of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s The Bible on the History Channel was alternately inspiring and curious. For a skeptic like me, who believes that commercial television has a poor track record of rendering of the Scriptures faithfully, there were many pleasant surprises in this production. A few missteps, too, but all in all I give it a positive rating while observing with interest some of the editorial choices. It is the making of those choices that interests me as a Christian educator and Presbyterian teaching pastor. If I were to design a curriculum to unveil

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“The Bible” in Ten Hours

Leave a Comment / It All Started in the Garden, Lent, Teaching / By /

As an educator, sometimes curriculum writer, Bible teacher, and Presbyterian pastor, I am always on the lookout for new ways to bring the Story alive. “Bringing the Word to Life” is more than a blog title, it is my calling and life purpose. So when I heard that Survivor producer Mark Burnett and “angel” Roma Downey were releasing a five-episode television miniseries The Bible, gratitude and skepticism vied for the upper hand. Do I dare hope that we might get a truly authentic version of the Bible’s story on the History Channel? Let me declare my skepticism openly at the

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Is “The Right to Marry” the Real Question?

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Thesis promoted by the President of the United States: Same-sex couples should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples, and therefore, should be given the constitutional right to marry. What follows sounds like boiler-plate language shared with Presbyterians who have engaged in this debate for several years. The president himself said, in his 2nd Inaugural Address of all occasions, that everyone should have the right to marry the person they love. This argument, if it can be called that, is as wrong for the American people as it is for Presbyterians who believe the Scripture is the only rule of

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Can the PC(USA) Really Change?

Leave a Comment / Leadership and Spirituality, Lent, PCUSA, Personal, Theological Reflection / By /

Last Sunday night, my husband and I hosted a black-tie five-course dinner for eleven other friends in our home. The occasion was the finale of Season Three of Downton Abbey, giving us the opportunity to live a brief fantasy of British aristocracy. The purpose of the evening was to enjoy the company of friends, have a luscious meal served to us (the thirteenth person, by prior arrangement, was our footman—and a fine one he was indeed), and discuss the characters and plot lines of the British television series. [May I just say, in a moment of personal privilege, that the

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The Skeleton in the PC(USA) Closet Is a Woman

Leave a Comment / ECO (Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians), PCUSA, Personal, Women in Ministry / By /

The WQ (“women’s question”) remains one of the most elusive and baffling aspects of ministry, even within a mainline denomination such as the PC(USA). The WQ has been a part of my life-long learning process since the 1970’s, when I felt a strong call to the ministry but believed the Bible prevented me from aspiring to pastoral leadership. Since then, and with the help of marvelous evangelical scholars, I’ve explored the WQ biblically, theologically, organizationally, and personally. And now, as a PC(USA) teaching elder ordained for over 25 years, I face the WQ from a different angle. The current question

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