AG Think Tank

Over at Christianity Today, James K. A. Smith reflects on the twin influences in his life: Pentecostal spirituality and Reformed theology. Smith is the author of Thinking in Tongues: Elements of a Pentecostal Worldview, which will be published next year by Eerdmans. Although the Assemblies of God teaches an Arminian soteriology, Smith's reflections are a reminder that God is not confined to our little theological box. Here's what Smith sees as the congruences between Pentecostal spirituality and Reformed theology: Pentecostals, on the other ... Read More

So I am finishing up an incredibly thought-provoking book entitled The Cult of the Amateur. The author, Andrew Keen, is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who founded Audiocafe.com and regularly writes for the likes of Forbes, Esquire, ZDNet and Industry Standard. All that to say that he is pretty well qualified through his history and connections to author this text. The core of the book is an analysis of the Faustian Bargain we might be entertaining by allowing our culture to idolize the likes of blogs, ... Read More

Disclaimer: this is my own idiosyncratic summary of our conversation. I left out lots of good stuff (including a particularly beautiful line about how we keep feeding baby food to adults), and I also grouped things in the way that made the most sense to me. Unless you were there, you should take it all with a grain of salt. This is in no way official. Obstacles To Gaining Credentials With The Assemblies   The most significant obstacle that we face is that our culture ... Read More

  Problems Measuring Ministry Productivity I love C-SPAN, and my favorite show on C-SPAN is Book TV. Last week I saw Steve McConnell, an award-winning author, get interviewed. Since I have already confessed my dorkish tendencies, I should confess the rest of the matter and tell you that the author had written my favorite book on programming. So I was geeked in every sense of the word. At one point the topic turned to productivity, and the author opined: “There are a lot of things ... Read More

        Thank you for the wonderful debate on the Matthew 5 Project statement, you are so right on so many points and you have perceptively picked up on the weaknesses. I’m going to introduce my take on the project, as one of the twenty authors, and give it some context. I’ll also answer specific questions you asked and show the many points of agreement we have regarding the hermeneutic.   First, most of the authors of this statement are just war theorists, such as Michael Beals (Assemblies ... Read More

I bought a new digital camera not too long ago. Nothing fancy, mind you. Just one of those "point-and-shoot" pocket digital deals that is all the rave now. One of the selling points, for me, was a feature it boasted called "Face Detection" technology. This is where the camera can discern the human facial features and thus focus on the face nearest the center of the field of view. Sounds cool, huh? You would think.  The technology is rarely accurate. Instead of the digital green box locking onto the face ... Read More

  I want to thank Paul Alexander for letting AG Think Tank post the complete text of “The Matthew 5:21-26 Project: Evangelicals for National Security through International Cooperation.” This being an election year, many of the issues raised by the document are being discussed by candidates for office. The Matthew 5:21-26 Project attempts to provide biblical guidance for Christian citizens as they seek to discern God’s will on these issues. If I disagree with the document, it is not because I disagree with ... Read More

 Site Editors Note:   We are proposing the Matthew 5 Project as this week's topic of discussion.  The initiative and write-up come from Paul Alexander, professor of theology and ethics at Azusa Pacific University.  Paul's complete profile can be found on our Writer's page. The Matthew 5:21-26 Project: Evangelicals for National Security through International Cooperation To endorse, please visit www.Matthew5Project.org Summary  1. Introduction: As Bible-believing Christians, we recognize Christ’s lordship over all areas of life. The end of the Cold War and the rise of global terrorist networks ... Read More

  The final chapter of The Jesus Way by Eugene H. Peterson describes and critiques Josephus and the Zealots, who represent the way of opportunism and the way of violence, respectively.   Born seven years after Jesus’ resurrection, Joseph ben Mattathias apprenticed himself in turn to the main schools of Jewish belief until finally settling on Pharisaism. His charisma, intelligence, and native talent got him appointed to a crucial embassy to Rome when he was only twenty-seven years old. When he returned to Palestine in ... Read More

  Several years ago, Stephen H. Covey published the mega-bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He recently published The 8th Habit because, well, seven just wasn’t enough. Perhaps before he retires or dies, he will publish yet another book regarding the ninth (or tenth or eleventh) habit.   I remind you of Covey because Americans like precision in their self-help books. They want the seven habits of highly effective people or the five people you meet in heaven or the three signs ... Read More