Barnabas File

To extend Christmas a little longer, my wife and I attended the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Opry House on Saturday. The show was well done with great staging, music, and choreography. The finale was the adoration of the Christ Child with shepherds and Wise Men present. It was beautifully done but the show’s producers followed the typical approach of taking great liberty with Matthew’s account about the visitors from the east. Matthew’s gospel tells us about the coming of magi (probably Zoroastrian priests) to worship the Christ child. They were both astrologers and astronomers who connected happenings in the heavens to those on earth and vice versa. Given their interchange with a very troubled King Herod and the fact that they found the child and his family in a house, their visit would have been at least two years after Jesus’ birth, so they would not have been present at the manger. The interesting thing about this story is that Matthew includes it at all. The gospel writ...

James Cameron’s Avatar is THE blockbuster holiday film. I saw it in 3-D and wish that I could have seen it in the IMAX format. This is a beautiful, exhilarating film that invites the viewer to suspend his or her imagination and enjoy the ride. The invitation is easily accepted. The story is not new or unique. Although some reviewers have charged that Cameron plagiarized Dances with Wolves, his inspiration is more from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter, Warlord of Mars series (something that Cameron himself readily admits). Although the writer/director strives for a fresh take on colonialism and biodiversity, this is a swashbuckler about an outsider who becomes immersed in an alien culture and becomes its savior—a common theme in science fiction and fantasy. Cameron also introduces a love story but that too is standard for this genre. In the film, an avatar is a body controlled by a “driver” or human controller. The body itself is a cloned hybrid created by combining the DNA of the Na’...

Economic downturn, midlife crisis, or work of the Holy Spirit? Whatever the reason, seminaries are welcoming a new type of student to campus. This student comes with life experience, a background in a profession (such as business, education, law, or medicine), and a desire to make a difference in the world. Many of the students that I relate to at the Murfreesboro center of Central Baptist Theological Seminary fall into this category. They have families, jobs, and church responsibilities, but they are seeking something new for themselves and for the Kingdom of God. They have a vision that may not fit into the usual parameters of church-related ministry. Some want to be part of a ministry that does not exist already. This is a work of God's Spirit. This is happening at other seminaries as well. In a Religious News Service article , David Worley, director of admissions at Iliff School Theology in Denver says, “Our big push is recruiting folks who want to be social entrepreneurs and a...

We read in Ecclesiastes 12:12, “Be warned, my son,. . . of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” I am not sure exactly what the writer was getting at here, but my initial response is to say “Amen” to the first part and “So?” to the second. Anyone who knows me realizes that I like to read. I have certain categories that particularly appeal to me, but I occasionally venture outside of those areas to consider other genres. The greatest gift that someone can give me is to recommend a book that has been especially meaningful to that person. I like to share books that I find interesting, helpful, formative, or instructive. At the top of my blog page, you will see a banner with “Ircel’s Recommendations.” If you follow that link to Amazon.com, you will find several categories. First is a list of books that I am reading right now. Some of these are in progress or may just be sitting on my shelf (or on my Kindle) waiting their turn. These have usually been recomm...

President George H. W. Bush (”41”) was widely criticized when he commented that he did not get the “vision” thing. For the last several decades, if you have read anything about personal or organizational development, you will realize that having a vision for yourself, your organization, or your church is mandatory. I don’t disagree with this idea, but vision is just the beginning. You can have a magnificent and compelling vision and fail in the pursuit of that vision! There are other things to consider—values, strategies, etc.—in building an effective organization or church but I affirm that the biggest challenge that a leader faces in the 21st century is obtaining resources. When I used the term, I am using it in a very broad sense. Resources include (but are not limited to) people, finances, spiritual insight, time, and technology. In fact, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between these four; they tend to blend into one another. For a church or church-related organization, ...

One of the classes I teach from time to time is titled “The Basics of Contemporary Christian Witness.” The scope of the course as taught at Central Seminary includes a study of the nature of salvation (especially as expressed in the Gospels), the missiology of the church through the ages, and an understanding of the missional church. One of the papers required of the students is a personal statement of their soteriology or doctrine of salvation. Students sometimes argue that there is certainly only one approach to salvation, but the history of the Christian faith shows otherwise. How and why we are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been interpreted in many ways in the history of the church. The doctrine has even led some Christian to persecute other Christians! Each of us brings his or her own perspective to this doctrine today. Because of our background, the teachings to which we have been exposed, our study of the Bible, and our life experiences, we each ...