It is clear that the myth of the Chosen Nation has been a powerful theme in American life. It is also clear that this myth can serve good and constructive purposes, especially when yoked to the notion of national covenant, for "covenant" implies responsibilities to...
God puts us in churches so that we will learn to love others; so that our rough edges will be worn off. When you feel like fleeing to another or different church, know you are moving close to spiritual growth. One purpose of church is to place us in covenant...
But our commitment is to do what we have promised, not to meet expectations, whether our own or those of others. If we can learn to measure effectiveness in terms of discerning what is really worth doing and keeping a covenant to do it, we might be both faithful and...
So Jesus' practice of table-fellowship was not only an expression of the good news of God's kingly rule. It was also an implicit critique of a Pharisaic definition of acceptability, of a Pharisaic practice which classified many fellow Jews as sinners, effectively...
Since Christ is the central figure of the new covenant, he is also the central focus of all authentic Christian worship. Christ is both the one whom we worship and the one through whom we worship, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is also the one whom we...
By the mercies of God, this new covenant community has been released from the darkness and foolishness of illicit worship to serve the living God in spirit and truth. In a very real sense this is the goal of the process of redemption, just as it was in the Old...