Moo's New Colossians Commentary

Posted on August 27, 2008

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Moo’s new commentary on Colossians and Philemon. For my Th.M thesis I wrote about 150 pages on this letter, which has profoundly shaped my theology, ministry, and everyday life. I did email briefly with Moo about getting him to review my thesis for the commentary, but alas, the manuscript was already dedicated. I am moving towards publishing an article on my research, and will be eager to see how much I line up with Moo. His Romans commentary is among the best single volumes on that letter.

Anyway, I called Eerdmans yesterday and got a copy shipped within 24 hours of the book being published, fresh off the press. Amazon doesnt even have it yet! Excited to take and read; I’ll be preaching through Colossians this Fall.

Don't Move to Get a Job; Move to be the Church

Posted on August 27, 2008

I recently met with someone who is looking for a new job and considering a move, which provoked some community-centered counsel regarding job-hunting and a move. I prefaced my comments by saying that they would be very unAmerican and unpopular. Here’s the crux of the counsel: don’t pick a location based on vocation; pick location based on community. In other words, be community-centered, not vocation-centered in making decisions about finding a new job and place to live.

Instead of sending resumes to the four winds to be blown to the city of our whim, what if we put community over personal preference in selecting a new place to live and work? What if we took the church so seriously that we made vocational and relocation decisions based on participation among a people on mission for God? Our cities, communities, churches, families, and lives would be very different.

My counsel was: “Find a gospel-centered community that you can do life and mission with, then a job, and then move there.” Now, I did provide an important caveat. Community is not sovereign; God is. So, if you aren’t getting resume or job traction in the church location you are aiming for, don’t just move there anyway. The church isn’t sovereign over the details of job offers; God is. If things don’t pan out, then you are probably aiming for the wrong community. God wants you in community and on mission elsewhere.

Using a Cultural Continuum

Posted on August 27, 2008

Dr. Gary Parrett offers a helpful approach to culture in his book The Many-Colored Kingdom. Briefly, he suggests that Christian engagement with other culture should run along the lines of a continuum, avoiding the fundamentalist and liberal polarizations.

Celebration – Critique – Concern – Condemnation

In Austin City Life we like to say that all cultures contain and disdain truth, beauty and virtue. Parrett’s continuum is a helpful tool in discerning the various shades of gray in between the black and the white.