What’s New!

This does not include the weekly lectionary update, which happens every Sunday afternoon.

29 April 2008

I updated the information about altar linens to make it clearer how to set up the altar for worship. I also updated information about vestments to explain their origins and symbolism.

31 March 2008

I have finished my long and hard project to convert all my dynamic pages to PHP. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. It just means I’ve been busy doing hard stuff. I have also added What if the Resurrection Really Happened?

10 February 2008

There haven’t been any additions for a while, but that doesn’t mean I’m asleep! I’ve been tidying up, fixing things, and doing other such stuff. New stuff is on the way!

12 November 2007

I expanded the entry on the historic floor plan of a church. I aded an explanation of the origin of that floor plan, which is simultaneously an explanation of a New Testament house church. I also added entries for altar, baptistery, Communion table, icon, and iconostasis.

17 October 2007

I made a small correction to How I Would Choose a Church and expanded How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?

16 October 2007

A reader alerted me to the liturgical use of blue in the Lutheran Church, and even cited a book that I have in my own library. (Whoops!) I corrected the information on the liturgical use of blue.

11 September 2007

I modified How I Would Choose a Church to contain criteria about the church’s programs, amenities, and worship.

7 September 2007

I added The Outrage of Accepting Unacceptable People.

29 July 2007

I have changed all the ASPX pages in the lectionary section to PHP. If you are a web master, and you link to any of those pages, please update your link.

15 July 2007

Some kind soul out pointed out that the ending to What Happens to Me When I Die? was incomplete. I repaired it.

17 June 2007

I have changed my start page from ASP.NET to PHP. There are a couple of reasons for this: First, Microsoft rapidly went from version 1.1 to 2.0 to 3.0, and I can't keep up. My web-presence provider only supports version 1.1, but Windows Vista can’t compile it. Second, as a result of my experience as a Vista beta tester, I'm switching to Apple Macintosh. ’Nuff said. Third, ASP.NET limits me to Windows servers; PHP works on all servers.

If all that went over your head, don’t worry about it. However, if you are a web master, and you have a link to a page ending in .aspx, it will evenutally change to .php. The process will be slow, but keep an eye out!

14 June 2007

I have reformatted the Bobo stories; the first major make-over those episodes have received since 1996.

18 April 2007

I posted Marcion Lives On! which explains the best intentions can lead to self-defeating collateral damage when we interpret the Bible too hastily.

17 April 2007

Someone asked me for steps for becoming a Christian. I gave it some thought, and came up with How to Become a Christian.

26 February 2007

I have been very busy updating pages, doing general web-site housecleaning, and I've added an RSS feed.

1 December 2006

I updated Historic Floor Plan to explain the relationship between the floor plans of a modern church and a New Testament house church.

26 September 2006

I composed and posted an Akathist to Jesus Christ. An akathist is an Eastern Orthodox form of prayer. I hope I got it right!

15 August 2006

8 August 2006

I updated and expanded my article on The Apocrypha and the Old Testament.

30 July 2006

This past month, I’ve been working on stuff behind the scenes. I also traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I had the great pleasure of meeting the Rev. Larry Isbell, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA), and the honor of preaching in the service.

13 June 2006

I updated How to dress for worship to include the reason why.

3 June 2006

Recently, there was a scientific experiment that allegedly demonstrated no link between prayer and healing. This is no surprise. I explain why in Does Prayer Actually Work?

25 May 2006

I added Do this in remembrance of me…

19 May 2006

I added The Outrage of Accepting Unacceptable People and Erring on the Safe Side.

17 January 2006

I added A Sample Communion Service.

3 January 2006

I added a warning about—believe it or not—the Dangers of Bible Study.

22 December 2005

I found an essay on the web that misrepresented me as blithely approving of cruel sacrificial practices that allegedly exist in the Old Testament. To clear this up, I updated Did Jesus Die to Appease His Father’s Anger?

15 December 2005

I updated my essay on Creationism and Evolution.

7 December 2005

I added Melissa Calls for help, A Conversation Gone Awry, and John Goes for a Quick Dip to my Bobo section.

4 December 2005

I added The Destruction of the Temple and the End of the World, just in case you’re worried!

21 November 2005

I added Interpreting the Bible, which explains how I examine biblical texts when I’m preparing a sermon.

23 October 2005

After much urging from you, I have finally overcome my laziness and have added three new translations to my review of Bible translations: The English Standard Version, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and the Today’s New International Version. (What exactly is a “standard” Bible anyway?)

24 August 2005

Many people think that the ancient church expected Jesus to return momentarily. Some even think Jesus thought He would, too. So I added Did Jesus Expect to Return Right Away?

16 August 2005

I added Jesus Pops a Balloon, which is about the irrevocable gifts and promises of God.

1 July 2005

I expanded on my explanation of Manicheanism to show its relevance. I also expanded my explanations of liturgical colors.

30 May 2005

I added an example of a lectionary sermon that explores our spiritual transformation in Christ and the relationship between faith and works; it is called The Righteous Shall Live by Faith.

6 May 2005

I have added information about historic Christian worship: Part One: The Service of the Word and Part Two: The Service of Communion.

25 April 2005

I have added interesting information to my essay on the Nicene Creed concerning the failed attempt to reunify the Catholics and the Orthodox at the Catholic Council of Florence in 1439.

25 April 2005

I have added interesting information to my essay on the Nicene Creed concerning the failed attempt to reunify the Catholics and the Orthodox at the Catholic Council of Florence in 1439.

15 April 2005

I have updated Original Sin and Repentance.

A lot of people have been noticing that cardinals and the pope wear little beanies on their heads. Actually, it’s a skull cap (or zucchetto in Italian.) I have added a page explaining the skull cap.

10 March 2005

The first time I heard that someone was in the undercroft, I had no clue what it meant. So to save you the same puzzlement, I have added the terms transept and undercroft to the glossary about church architecture.

6 January 2005

I have repaired the program that finds holy days to fix a problem with the date for the First Sunday in Advent in some years and the date of the Baptism of the Lord. I also revised the Worship Glossary to show the biblical roots of worship in the synagogue and the church.

23 December 2004

I have redone the menu system so that it is more efficient. The menus are now on the left instead of across the top. If you have a standards-compliant browser, like Firefox, the menu stays in place as the text scrolls up or down. With Internet Explorer, the menu scrolls with the text.

18 December 2004

I expanded my essay, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” to explain how people actually choose to go to hell.

11 December 2004

I have installed a new search feature for this web site. You can also search this site just by entering http://www.kencollins.com/search in your browser.

23 November 2004

In case you are curious, or in case you are thinking about it, I added What does it take to be ordained?

21 October 2004

I added Is Jesus a Carpenter?

20 October 2004

I updated my articles on What Is a Sacrament and How Many Sacraments Are There with help from Robert B. Kelly.

4 October 2004

I added downloadable versions of my page about Advent and my instructions for making and using an Advent wreath.

1 October 2004

I added Ring Around the Mulberry Bush about strengthening our faith.

31 August 2004

I have added entries to my glossary on Vestments and Clericals. to describe the various types of shirts worn by clergy outside the worship service. I have also added entries to my glossary on Worship, Prayer, and Liturgy to include practical information about altar linens.

25 August 2004

I have improved and expanded my annotated bibliography. You can use it to help you choose authoritative reference books to continue your study, or just to check up on me.

21 August 2004

I revised my starting page. I hope it is more attractive and easier to use. It is now half the size, even though it has the same content, and it is easier for your browser to render. It also looks better on a PDA. It’s also better for both of the people who are still using Netscape 4.

13 August 2004

I revised my article “Why Clergy Should Wear Vestments,” and gave it a more accurate title, Why Clergy Should Wear Clericals.

27 July 2004

I have heard a lot of people ridicule pie-in-the-sky sermons, but I’ve never actually heard one. So I decided to preach one: Pie in the Sky, By and By.

26 July 2004

I have added several articles but I forgot to list them here. The most recent addition is How to Pastor a Church.

15 May 2004

I’ve been busy behind the scenes on my web site. For those of you who are web-savvy, here are the details:

I have rewritten all my dynamic pages in the C# programming language and moved them to ASP.NET. You can tell the difference because the dynamic files now have an “aspx” extension instead of “asp.” You probably won’t notice the increased performance, but it makes a big difference to the server, particularly when traffic is heavy.

My file-naming scheme dates back to 1996, which means it was overdue for some tidying up. I've renamed some files and moved others around—but have no fear, no links were harmed in the process. I’ve written special software that will send you to the right file even if you use the old name. If you have a web site and you have linked to any of my files that contain “cgi-bin” or end in “asp” or “aspx,” just click on the link and watch the new file name appear in the address bar of your browser. Then you can update your links.

With very few exceptions, all of my pages now validate as XHTML 1.1 with the World Wide Web Consortium, the official standards body for the web. In case you were wondering, HTML is now obsolete. XHTML is the current standard, and XHTML 1.1 is latest and greatest. By putting my web site in XHTML, I have “future-proofed” it; that means it will be easier for me to keep it on the web for the indefinite future.

I have made some changes to the menu system to make it easier for me to maintain it. These changes have the side effect that my web site is more readable in Netscape 4 than it was before. However, Netscape 4 is hopelessly quirky and out of date, Netscape four dot this has different quirks than Netscape four dot that, very few people use it, and there is no way for one guy with an 800-page web site to accommodate it. (For instance, Netscape 4 thinks that “transparent” means “black”!) I am giving up on it, and I recommend that you do, too.

22 April 2004

I added What Happens to Me When I Die? in case you were wondering. It is essentially what Eastern Christianity has been learning and teaching over the last 2,000 years.

19 April 2004

I added The Case Against Contemporary Worship; a thought piece with a provocative title.

27 March 2004

I added an article about the Stations of the Cross. I also composed a version of the Stations of the Cross that you can print and use.

25 March 2004

I added a printable version of my article What is a Tenebrae service?

20 March 2004

In the wintertime, some people like to joke that “many are cold, but few are frozen,” which is a humorous play on Jesus’ saying that many are called, but few are chosen. Here are my thoughts on what He meant by that.

6 March 2004

I discovered that my search page wasn’t working and fixed it. I also added printable versions of my explanations of Holy Week and the three days, which you can download and use as handouts or bulletin inserts. I have also added material to the explanation of Holy Week. I have also added material to my thoughts on the movie The Passion of the Christ.

What did Jesus mean when He said that a no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God?

Some people think the baptizer should say “I baptize you in Jesus’ name”, while others insist that the baptizer should say “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” What is the practice of the ancient church?

3 March 2004

Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ is both successful and controversial. I offer my thoughts on this movie, which you may find interesting. Or not.

16 February 2004

Sometimes people ask me for permission to reprint articles on my web site. I have begun to put the more popular ones in printable form. You can download them and use them as handouts or bulletin inserts.

22 January 2004

After doing further research on the topic, I updated the information on vestments.

19 January 2004

I added the word liturgy to the reference section.

10 January 2004

I added a prayer book for Roman Catholics to my list on page about prayer books.

14 November 2003

I added an essay about the resurrection.

10 October 2003

I added an essay about a possible contradiction between Mark 9:40 and Matthew 12:30.

16 September 2003

I completely redesigned the web site! Please let me know how you like it.

31 August 2003

I added How to Preach the Lectionary. It is my method for using all four lectionary texts in the sermon.

July and August 2003

I have been answering your emails, and I updated the entire web site to XHTML 1.1. Now it conforms to all the latest standards.

2 May 2003

I added Walking in the Light.

20 April 2003

I have converted my entire web site to XHTML 1.0.

31 March 2003

A lot of people write to me, asking for advice is choosing a church. I am not comfortable telling you what to do, but I can tell you how I would go about doing it. So I added an essay explaining how I would choose a church.

20 March 2003

I added an essay that summarizes the concept of a just war as defined (rather precisely) by western Christian moral theologians over the last 1,600 years. In accordance with my policy for this web site, the essay takes no political stand. It only explains what theologians mean by the term just war.

20 February 2003

Someone wrote and told me that I don’t cover the sacraments very well, to which my response was “whoops!” So I decided to remedy this lapse by adding some articles on the sacraments in the Worship section. They are Ancient Worldviews and the Sacraments, What is a Sacrament? and How Many Sacraments Are There? I hope some additional articles on this topic will follow.

31 December 2002

I finished updating the HTML on my web site to the current standard, and I have removed the frames. Now it should be easier for you to bookmark individual pages..

13 December 2002

I have been busy updating and cleaning up the HTML code on my web site.

7 November 2002

I added The Function of Bishops in the Ancient Church.

17 October 2002

My web-hosting company had problems on Thursday, 17 October. There was an outage early in the day, and then visitors to my web site were prompted for a password that does not exist. I hope this did not inconvenience you too much.

5 October 2002

I added an original Communion hymn, an original musical setting for the Tersanctus. Since HTML does not support sheet music, it is in a PDF file that requires the Adobe Acrobat reader.

13 September 2002

I added Jesus Drives out an Evil Spirit.

26 July 2002

At the request of a reader, I added a definition of dalmatic to the glossary. I also added a page with general recommendations for a ministerial wardrobe if you want to follow the ecumenical consensus. (This is for Protestants if your denomination doesn’t give you much guidance. Roman Catholic and Orthodox clergy should consult their bishops.)

27 June 2002

At the request of a reader, I added pictures of vestments to my Vestments page. You can see pictures showing various ways of wearing albs or of cassocks.

23 June 2002

I added an essay about the the inspiration of the Bible.

16 June 2002

I am beginning a new section called Speed Bumps. In this section, I go through Bible verses and find things that don’t quite fit what we expect, explore the implications, and figure out if we need to make some changes to our thinking.

21 May 2002

I added a page for clergy about baptizing by immersion.

13 May 2002

I graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary with a Master's degree in Divinity.

11 May 2002

I added several terms to the glossaries, including ambry, cathedra, cathedral, ciborium, cope, dean, high altar, procession, see, and tabernacle.

8 April 2002

I added a Meditation on the Healing of the Paralytic, with some thoughts on modern faith healers and God’s purpose of illness.

30 March 2002

I have worked with the good people at Epiphany Software to give you free access to an online Bible Library.

24 March 2002

I was ordained to the ministry by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

21 December 2001

I added Who Moved the Sabbath to Sunday? I also added entries to the glossary for chapel, oratory, thurible, and thurifer. So now you can rest assured that if your thurible is smoking, it is supposed to do that, but if your thurifer is smoking, it is a health risk.

24 November 2001

I added material to How to Make an Advent Wreath to explain the meanings of the candles and the colors, and where they came from.

17 August 2001

I added The Measure of Your Soul. If you use biblical standards to measure the value of your soul, you might get a pleasant surprise.

12 August 2001

I have changed the way I update the lectionary readings. I now update them early in the week instead of on Friday, so now both readings are for future Sundays.

21 June 2001

I have made small changes to the appearance of my web site to improve its speed and appearance. Most of you will see an improvement. If you are among the minority that is still using Netscape 4, it will actually get uglier, because Netscape 4 is too old to support current standards very well.. If you use Netscape, I recommend you upgrade to Netscape 6. Not only will my web site look prettier, just about everything else will, too. Another very good browser is Opera, but very few of you use it.

20 June 2001

With huge regret, I had to remove the poll, even though it is a popular feature. My problem was that I can’t get the permissions on the server to persist so that your answers can be recorded. I’ll keep experimenting to see if I can bring it back.

18 June 2001

I added material to Why Clergy Should Wear Vestments.

7 May 2001

I added Standing on the Promises.

13 April 2001

I added How to choose colors for worship to my Instructions page. My web site has had a lot of downtime lately for which I apologize. It has been moved to a different server, so these problems should be over.

6 April 2001