Cinderblocks of Faith
I’ve discovered that once you kick out some cinderblocks from a faulty foundation, many other previously-stable things tend to be disrupted as well. And maybe that’s not a bad thing.
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Deconstruction or Repentance?
What if your life mission was to walk the streets of your city, visiting the street corners next to each church, and to cry “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand” – and what if the ones you were calling to repent were the church people who were actually faithfully and diligently living out what they’d been taught were the religious commands from holy scriptures?
This ought to sound familiar. If you did that you’d be following Jesus’ example.
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Small Groups and Synagogues
Do small groups support Sunday services, or do Sunday services support small groups? That question is very relevant to the current concerns of many believers about American Christianity’s practices. To find an answer, it’s instructive to consider the Jewish religious practices familiar to the New Test
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Let’s Not Take Brandon to Church
It’s hard to imagine a more precise illustration of “the ends justify the means” – and a more ironic one – than a Christian reverting to very anti-Christian behavior in order to obtain or preserve political power for the church. How did we ever get here?
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The Womb in the Wilderness
The wilderness can seem deeply uncomfortable – but it’s also a womb, a place of preparation and growth, bringing about what the Lord intends for us.
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Fear and Accusation
Yes, it’s a spiritual battle we’re in right now. But it’s not against COVID, and it’s not against fear. And it’s absolutely not against each other.
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How I Learned Empathy
A number of evangelical personalities are now calling empathy a sin and advocating that sympathy is the only Scripturally-appropriate way to deal with other people’s difficulties. Over the last couple years, the Lord has been reworking my heart to restore an ability to empathize, so I share that testimony and challenge this unscriptural position.
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A Collective Identity
I’ve been reading a book titled “Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World.” It has me thinking about the dynamics of people that think primarily in terms of groups versus individuals, and about the patterns in American culture and society of the use of authority – and especially about
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Safe Places and Untouchables
When the church does not provide a “safe place” for the hurting and confused, it effectively eliminates itself as a source of counsel and wisdom, not to mention a place of sanctuary and healing. But “safe places” and a shame-based discipline system are incompatible with each other. My History with Shame For all of my
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COVID Contradictions
The COVID epidemic has clearly exposed a number of contradictions in the thought process and the actions of many American Christians. The very group that is the most vocal about stopping abortion, preventing euthanasia, and denying “my body, my choice” is also the group agitating the loudest against masking and vaccination and activity restrictions. Isaiah 1 has some strong words for God’s people in the face of their failure to look out for the vulnerable among them.
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