"War is not pro-life"

So read a bumper sticker I saw yesterday afternoon.

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Happy 27th to one and all!

"Until you can find a better place to go,

come to church.”

Thus reads a blurb on the back of a church directory I ran across today.

Hmmmm….

Christian Unity Hymn

HYMN 165.

1. Come, my Christian friends and brethren, Bound for Canaan’s happy land,
Come, unite and walk together, Christ our leader gives command.
Lay aside your party spirit, Wound your Christian friends no more,
All the name of Christ inherit, Zion’s peace again restore.

2 We’ll not bind our brother’s conscience, This to God alone is free,
Nor contend with one another, But in Christ united be:
Here’s the Word, the grand criterion, This shall all our doctrine prove,
Christ the centre of our union, And the bond is Christian love.

3 Here my hand, my heart, my spirit, Now in fellowship I give,
Now we’ll love and peace inherit, Show the world how Christians live;
We are one in Christ our Saviour, Here is neither bond nor free,
Christ is all in all for ever, In his name we all agree.

4 Now we’ll preach and pray together, Praise, give thanks, and shout and sing;
Now we’ll strengthen one another, And adore our heavenly King;
Now we’ll join in sweet communion, Round the table of our Lord;
Lord, confirm our Christian union, By thy Spirit and thy word.

5 Now the world will be constrained To believe in Christ our King;
Thousands, millions be converted, Round the earth his praises ring;
Blessed day! O joyful hour! Praise the Lord ­his name we bless;
Send thy kingdom, Lord, with pow’r, Fill the world with righteousness.

From the “Love and Union” section of

The Christian Hymn-Book, compiled and published at the request of the Miami Christian Conference. By B. W. Stone and Tho: Adams. First Edition. Georgetown, Ky: N. L. Finnell, 1829.

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This was called to my attention not long ago on the Stone-Campbell email discussion list. When published by Stone-Adams in 1829 it did not have accompanying musical notation. “Words-only” hymnals were the standard of that day. There are a few tunes which will work with these words, but having looked at many of them, I think “Nettleton” is the best. I think it fits best rhythmically and the language of the hymn is quite comparable in places to the words most often identified with the tune “Nettleton”, namely “O Thou Fount of Every Blessing…”

We’ll be singing this one tomorrow at Woodmont Christian Church, here in Nashville, where I will be speaking to a luncheon gathering about Barton Stone and three events of his life and ministry: Cane Ridge, the Last Will, and ‘1832.’

Thanks, But No Thanks

Not exactly the sort of family history we at DCHS are interested in preserving:

http://www.wmur.com/news/14157668/detail.html

(we do have a lock of Alexander Campbell’s hair, though)

This and that

The fall research season is in full swing. Just today I had three researchers going full-steam. All are graduate students, from Vandy, Lipscomb and U. of Chicago. I'm always energized by sharing scholarship and by facilitating scholarship. Today was a good day for research; and if anyone tells you that people are not interested in our history, then they would be wrong.

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On that note, my presentation to the Tennessee Conference of Historians Saturday at Union University in Jackson, TN went well. Being my first such presentation, I have nothing to which to compare it (at least as far as the presentation is concerned). However, I was comfortable with the paper and the conference as a whole was well-done. The people at Union went out of their way to make it a good experience. The coordinator of the session in which I presented made several thoughtful and genuinely helpful suggestions on the paper. I wasn't expecting that and was very impressed. My paper was entitled: Nashville Churches of Christ, 1866-1906: Patterns of Evangelism for a Growing Fellowship. I've got some more work to do on it, both in the areas of research and interpretation.

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I'm commuting in via Murfreesboro Road now instead of I-24. It's comparable, and sometimes quicker, plus I have yet to brace myself for what I'm sure is an impending rear-end from either 1) an 18 wheeler, 2) a redneck in a large pick-up, 3) women who are putting on make-up. If that sounds snobby or sexist, then you haven't driven I-24 in the mornings; you drive it for 6 years and then get back to me. For the drive home, however, the interstate is still quicker. Most days it flows rather well; today I made it home in about 35 minutes. Lately, I've listened to Bob Randolph and James Walters sermons from Brookline Church in Boston. I burn CD's and can get one, maybe two sermons in one one-way trip (unless Bob gets long-winded).

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Speaking of James Walters, I've found his work on Rome and Romans not only fresh and well-reasoned, but tremendously insightful for a reading and application of Romans. Ethnic Issues in Paul's Letter to the Romans; a book you should own. So, having an opportunity to hear him preach (even if on CD) is a real bonus. (Chad, I'm envious...take good notes!) I met James at Chad Smith's (beautiful) wedding last fall. A fine exegete and a nice guy (both of them).

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Speaking of Romans, we at Central Church will be in chapter 4 Sunday morning. Steve and I are attempting a program of teaching in which I teach the AM class, exegete the text for the day and he preaches the AM sermon on the same text, drawing out from it teaching for the assembly. The trick here is to do a class well (and not preach a sermon under the guise of a Sunday School lesson) and do a sermon well (and not preach as if it is a Sunday School class). I think the approach has real merit. This is the first time we've attempted such and it seems to be going well.

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How about that for a stream-of-consciousness post?

I've also added some new blogs, deleted others, and fixed some broken links. I've got more to add as time permits.

What makes poor teaching poor?

In no particular order: questionable exegesis (the homework hasn't been done), condescension, cheese, insulting the intelligence of the audience, dramatics, one-sidedness, oversimplification, overcomplication

I have often wished that I had kept a record...

…of my work, but I did not, and it is too late in the day to begin now. I am sure that there is a true record of my life being kept, but by Him who notes the fall of the tiny little sparrow, whose eyes run to and fro through the earth, and from whose vision nothing can escape. Yes, God is keeping my record, and of that I am conscious all the time. But as I say, I wish I had a record of the number that I have baptized, the number of people I have married, the funerals I have preached, and the different places at which I have preached; but I have not, and I feel that I would be wasting my time if I should try to keep such a record. This I do know: if I have ever failed to tell the sweet story at any place I have ever been, I am not conscious of it, and for that I have no apology to offer to any man on earth.”

--J. G. Allen, “Our Work in South Carolina,” Gospel Advocate January 30, 1930, 100.

What makes good teaching good?

in no particular order: clarity, passion, rigorous exegesis, eye-contact, willingness to say "I do not know" when you do not know, theological acumen, humility

sitz im leben blogeschichte

Having caught your attention with the title for this post, I want to raise a question and then return to a fine Saturday with the family.

Blogging is a curious thing, isn't it. Reading what some people put on their blogs, (or what I put on my own for that matter) I often wonder what is going through their heads. Why write this or that? Why not write something else or another thing? Why this quote or that blurb, or this clip from Youtube or that illustration or picture? Why include these links to websites or blogs? What is the sitz im leben (the situation in life) which gives rise to blogging?

And furthermore, why put such on the internet so everyone, their sister and the dog can read it? And even beyond that, why do we read this stuff that everyone, their sister and the dog blog about?

What is that prompts people to blog what they blog, and what is it about blogging that makes us read them, or worse, subscribe to them?

No answers this cool(er) afternoon in Middle Tennessee, just questions. Don't waste your time trying to deconstruct the title of this post; or, even better, have fun trying to deconstruct the title of this post.