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November 2016

November 16, 2016

Intersectionality for bewildered white evangelicals

In the Washington Post this week, white evangelical millennial leader Katelyn Beaty said, "I can’t...

September 2016

September 07, 2016

Toxic Christianity encapsulated in a church sign

This church sign captures everything that is wrong with toxic Christianity and why it positions...

August 2016

August 11, 2016

Who are the false prophets? (Matthew 24:11-12)

I stumbled across a scripture that I've been meditating on this week. The Ferguson Declaration...

August 10, 2016

When a well-intentioned white person exudes white supremacy

Well the Gospel Coalition is in trouble again. They wanted to participate in the race...

June 2016

June 20, 2016

Why I still believe in hell

My dear friend and podcast-mate Jason Micheli just wrote a very kind review of my...

June 06, 2016

What if Christian salvation means becoming divine?

Becoming divine. It sounds like new age drivel one might hear from a spiritual guru...

May 2016

May 20, 2016

When United Methodists behave like Galatians

My fellow Patheos blogger Eric Smith has a provocative blog post pairing the May 29th...

May 12, 2016

Why we’re ethically incomprehensible to each other

A recent commenter brought up an important point that provides a different angle for understanding...

May 06, 2016

What Romans 1 teaches about sin and why it ironically exonerates LGBT identity

Romans 1:18-32 is one of the most important passages in scripture, because it describes the...

May 02, 2016

On making Jesus answer questions he wasn’t asked

Conservative United Methodist scholar Ben Witherington's recent rant in the United Methodist Clergy group was...

February 2016

February 06, 2016

Christian salvation and the Beatitudes #4: The pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. This beatitude is everything....

January 2016

January 29, 2016

Christian salvation and the Beatitudes #2: Those who mourn

I've started a series looking at Christian salvation through the lens of the Beatitudes, the...

January 21, 2016

Why don’t we call God “they” instead of “he”?

For Christmas this year, I got Andrei Rublev's Trinity icon. It is the most beautiful...

January 19, 2016

Two Corinthians 3:17: why I love Donald Trump’s favorite verse

Everyone is making fun of Donald Trump for saying "Two" instead of "Second Corinthians" in...

January 11, 2016

Can American Christianity be detoxified? (A summary of my first book)

Have we become what Jesus came to stop us from being? Many evangelical Christians in...

December 2015

December 23, 2015

Jesus’ name and the meaning of salvation

In Matthew 1:21, the angel Gabriel tells Mary what to name her new baby: “You...

November 2015

November 23, 2015

Was Moses a terrorist?

Over the past week as terrorist attacks have happened in Paris, Beirut, Baghdad, Mali, and...

September 2015

September 11, 2015

An Honest Question for Christians Who Say They “Obey” the Bible

I wanted to ask an honest question. It's partly a loaded question, but partly a...

July 2015

July 07, 2015

Six scriptures I would use to address Kevin DeYoung’s 40 questions for rainbow flag-waving Christians

Kevin DeYoung’s 40 questions for rainbow-flag waving Christians has been making rounds across the internet...

June 2015

June 19, 2015

Why I can’t use euphemisms for anti-gay Christians

I have many anti-gay Christians in my life and I love them at least as...

June 06, 2015

Worship and justice in the feast of first fruits (Deuteronomy 26)

Yesterday's lectionary reading included a passage from Deuteronomy 26 that gives instructions on what the...

May 2015

May 06, 2015

How a core evangelical doctrine became my gateway heresy

The other week, a friend playfully tweeted out a warning not to mess around with...

May 01, 2015

Why white Christians need to listen to Amos and Isaiah

"But let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Amos 5:24...

April 2015

April 21, 2015

Love and the day of judgment (1 John 4:17)

1 John 4 is one of the most comforting and life-giving chapters of the whole...

February 2015

February 18, 2015

Radical Jesus 101: Two very different ways of defining sin

I figured Ash Wednesday would be a good day to meditate upon the meaning of...

January 2015

January 08, 2015

“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth” (Psalm 46:9)

Today's psalm from the Presbyterian daily lectionary was Psalm 46. A couple of lines in this...

December 2014

December 27, 2014

Which narrow gate is the narrow gate Jesus wants us to walk through?

At a recent campus ministry conference, the closing sermon was about Jesus' exhortation to "enter...

December 08, 2014

Did God or Satan tell David to take a census? Progressive revelation & Derek Flood’s Disarming Scripture

If God tells you to sin, is it still a sin? What if God tells...

October 2014

October 13, 2014

Is God arbitrary? (my point of contention with conservative evangelicals)

Is there anything that God asks us to do for no other reason than because...

September 2014

September 19, 2014

Three arguments for Biblical inerrancy that need to be retired

One of the most important books I read in seminary was evangelical Old Testament scholar...