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Progressive Christian

Challenging the Church

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September 2022

September 25, 2022

Should I Attend See You at the Pole?

Is See You at the Pole an annual event of spiritual dedication, or a perfect...

September 12, 2022

Righteousnesslessness (Not a typo)

In my last articles, I must have come across as if I believe that Jesus...

September 09, 2022

Sinless Jesus: One of Us

When the church claims that Jesus was sinless, what does that mean? In this series’...

September 06, 2022

Sinless Jesus; Holy Outlaw

Was Jesus sinless? Christian teaching claims that he was—but what does that mean? In my...

August 2022

August 26, 2022

“Here I Am to Worship—But Why?”

Why do we worship God? Does God need to be worshipped? Throughout the Bible, people...

August 17, 2022

If You Give a Man a Fish: Humanitarianism and the Gospel

If you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. If...

August 12, 2022

Church Discipline (Part 5): Discipling is Better than Discipline

Evangelical pastors look at me as if I’ve grown two heads when I say I...

August 08, 2022

Church Discipline (Part 4): Coverings and Cover-Ups

The Church often uses internal discipline to cover up crime. Because the church believes itself...

August 05, 2022

Church Discipline (Part Three): Is the Church Your Spiritual Covering?

Recently, I saw a meme of a father wielding the Shield of Faith to protect...

August 03, 2022

Church Discipline (Part two): Are Pastors God’s Morality Police?

Are pastors supposed to function as God’s morality police? Is there a better way than...

August 01, 2022

Church Discipline (Part One): Matthew 18 and Spiritual Bullying

Church discipline is all about bullying people who don't conform. There--I said it. A...

July 2022

July 25, 2022

Love the Sin; Hate the Sinner

No, I didn't get the title backwards. Contrary to the popular Christian aphorism that says,...

July 16, 2022

How Should Conservative Christians Treat LGBTQIA+ Folks?

"Dad, I'm bisexual." "Mom, I'm a lesbian." "Pastor, I'm gay." "Boss, I'm transgender." "Friend, I'm...

July 14, 2022

Can Christians Curse? What the Bible Says…

Christians have a lot of unwritten rules when it comes to cussing, cursing, swearing, or...

July 12, 2022

The Chosen People and Guns: Our History of Supremacy, Violence, and Genocide

White Americans love guns because they think of themselves as the Chosen People. Don’t believe...

July 07, 2022

God’s Nonbinary Pronouns: How Theology Can Learn from Queer Studies

Trans and nonbinary people are changing their pronouns--what if God is, too? As part of...

July 05, 2022

Why American Evangelicals Aren’t Modern-Day Daniels

Many White American Evangelicals consider themselves modern-day Daniels. Heroes in their own minds, they love...

June 2022

June 04, 2022

Selling Your Soul to the Creeds: When The Church Makes You Sign on the Dotted Line

Since when did Christianity require people to sign on the dotted line? It must be...

June 01, 2022

What Does Biblical Marriage REALLY Look Like?

Not long after Marriage Equality was passed, the Baptist association of which my church was...

May 2022

May 30, 2022

The Bible Contains Mistakes–So Does All Great Art

"You're saying there are contradictions in the Bible!" screamed the irate church member after one...

May 25, 2022

Breaking the Window to Get Outside

Why do churches have stained glass? I joke that the reason is to let in...

May 23, 2022

Singer Walker Hayes and Pastor Craig Allen Cooper Release Book “Glad You’re Here,” a Story of Incarnational Love

Country singer Walker Hayes stepped out on a limb with “Craig,” a love song to...

May 20, 2022

Theology of the Polished Turd

In the beginning, God made a turd. And God breathed into it the breath of...

May 13, 2022

5 ½ Things You Can Do To Make Jesus Come Again

How can Christians make Jesus come again? First-century Pharisees believed that if every Jewish person...

May 05, 2022

What’s the Best Way for Churches to Do Benevolence?

The disheveled couple looked nervously into the faces of gathered Deacons. They wore their awkwardness...

May 03, 2022

Can Church Music Be Saved from Bad Theology?

Has your changing faith made certain church songs difficult for you to sing? Does Christian...

May 01, 2022

That Saved a WHAT Like Me??? – Church Music and Deconstruction

Many people going through faith deconstruction say they have difficulty with hymns and worship music....

April 2022

April 27, 2022

Not THAT Kind of Christian!

Yesterday, I got confronted with my secret--it had finally gotten out. I was talking with...

April 23, 2022

If You See God, Kill Him! – Separating God From Our Beliefs About God

“If you see the Buddha, kill him,” say the Buddhists. What a strange thing from...

April 19, 2022

The Idol of Americianity

In church, "I pledge allegiance" sounds an awful lot like "Hail Caesar!" The American church...