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Continue reading →: Biblical scholarship creates conflicts where they often do not exist
Writing about the Bible in his latest book After You Believe, popular scholar N. T. Wright notes, “The whole story is the whole story.” There are plenty of people who would like to slice and dice the Bible into sections; others simply ignore what they don’t like while proof-texting to…
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Continue reading →: Childloss and Unbearable Grief
When I sat down with Ernest and Lacy (not their real names), I did not have much to say. They had lost their daughter several days ago, and what can one say about the loss of a child that can make things better? Their tears were still fresh; the Kleenex…
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Continue reading →: The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible, Fourth Edition, and Me
Above is my 20-year long-use review of three Oxford Annotated NRSVs. For the past half-year, I have been vacillating about whether to purchase a new Bible. Every time I went to Cokesbury in Atlanta, I drooled over all of my favorite translations. I looked at hard covers and the leather…
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Continue reading →: The wilderness of Lent and the journey to Calvary
I have come to believe that God meets us precisely where we are. Sometimes God meets us in the darkness of night or in the dawn of a new day. Other times, in the green field of His pasture. We find God on the mountain of praise or in the…
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Continue reading →: Unique among friends: Creative fasting ideas for Ash Wednesday
This week is an important week in the Christian year: We begin the journey of Lent on Ash Wednesday, March 9th. Lent is a period of forty days that leads up to Holy Week. Specifically, Lent is a time to travel with Christ through the wilderness of conversion and transformation. …
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Continue reading →: Seeking Commitment in a “No Strings Attached” Society
In the film, No Strings Attached, friends Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher) hook up in what is commonly called a “friends with benefits” relationship (Beware: spoilers ahead!). Basically, a friend with benefits is one that offers sexual intimacy without any obligations or commitments. In the film, Emma is…
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Continue reading →: Your Potrait with God: Praying with Visuals and the Power of Daydreams
If I were to paint a portrait of your relationship with God, what would it look like? How would you and God be positioned? How shall I paint your hands and arms? How shall I paint your postures? Is there distance between the figures? Is there a certain intimacy? What…
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Continue reading →: The Liberation message of Leviticus, and other thoughts on God’s Law
This month, I decided to preach the lectionary texts in church. I don’t use the lectionary often, but when I do, God always uses those seemingly random scripture lessons in amazing ways. Until I saw the text for February 20th. On Leviticus. You know Leviticus, right? It’s the third book…
Engaging Heart, Mind, and Soul
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia is a pastor, writer, and chaplain residing in Florida. He is author of three books and regular contributor to Smyth & Helwys’ Formations Series. His articles have appeared in USA Today, Baptist News Global, Christian Ethics Today, TCPalm, and Rockdale Citizen.
Baptist Spirituality explores the intersection of faith and culture incorporating biblical scholarship, culture and the arts, politics, science, and theology.
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