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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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November 2014

November 06, 2014

Love is not our choice, but God’s gift (featuring Simone Weil)

One of the most problematic axioms in the popular evangelical culture that raised me is...

November 05, 2014

Should we accept ourselves or despise ourselves? [reflections on Henri Nouwen and Thomas a Kempis]

I've been reading two books simultaneously from two guys who have been deeply influential on...

November 04, 2014

When I need a weak Jesus to be my friend (an encounter with an icon)

Yesterday was a very rich day of healing for me. So many of my readers...

October 2014

October 31, 2014

Is Ross Douthat right that offering communion to divorcees will bring down the Catholic church?

I had always thought of Ross Douthat as one of the "reasonable conservatives" whom I...

October 23, 2014

Why I like Pope Francis’ “God of surprises”

It's little secret that progressive evangelicals like me have a huge crush on Pope Francis...

October 21, 2014

Where I’m actually coming from as a progressive evangelical

One of my most valuable conversation partners on the Internet is a conservative Calvinist campus...

October 16, 2014

When cis-het men play God: evangelical transphobia and the idolatry of gender

Last week, Russell Moore wrote a column for The Gospel Coalition called "Joan or John?"...

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 29, 2014

“Against you alone have I sinned” (the solipsism of evangelical morality)

"Against you alone have I sinned." These words from Psalm 51:4 are attributed to the...

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...

September 17, 2014

Do you deserve to be crucified for your sin?

This past week, Brian Zahnd and Michael Brown held a debate on the penal substitution...

September 06, 2014

How Andrew W.K. messed with my prayer life

The Village Voice in New York City has a weekly advice column by a guy...

September 02, 2014

How I would say what Victoria Osteen said differently

In a video clip that has been making the rounds on social media, prosperity gospel...

August 2014

August 20, 2014

Could you listen to an angry black Jesus?

I know. He doesn't look all that angry. There just aren't any good angry black...

August 12, 2014

A brilliant thing Kierkegaard wrote about love

I discovered the Danish Christian existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard my first year in college. He...

August 10, 2014

Is it okay to notice that Jesus can be a jerk sometimes?

The lectionary reading for this week is the familiar story of Jesus walking across the...

August 05, 2014

Daddy, is the devil real?

My sons wanted to tell spooky stories last night. Isaiah went first, then Matthew, then...

July 2014

July 13, 2014

How does God “condemn sin in the flesh” on Jesus’ cross? (Romans 8:3)

In this week's lectionary epistle reading, Paul writes that "by sending his own Son in...

July 07, 2014

God’s triune sovereignty as provider, victim, and rebel

I've been dragging my heels on writing this post because referring to God as a...

June 2014

June 26, 2014

Can Christianity work with a Mr. Rogers God? (Wrestling with “moralistic therapeutic deism”)

There's a wonky term that gets thrown around a lot among Christian educators called "moralistic...

June 25, 2014

Spiritual tinkering: good or bad?

We've been having a stimulating conversation at the campus ministry summer institute at Candler School...

May 2014

May 09, 2014

What is a heretic and what is orthodoxy? (A response to Timothy Tennent)

In a recent blog post, Asbury Theological Seminary president Timothy Tennent claimed that the real...

April 2014

April 24, 2014

Social holiness is about way more than sex

Fellow Methodist pastor Evan Rohrs-Dodge wrote a very legitimate post recently pointing out the distinction...

April 20, 2014

Resurrection and the gift of a wounded body

Since today is Easter, I've been trying to think of something inspiring to say. But...

March 2014

March 04, 2014

What is Biblical obedience? Abraham, Huck Finn, and Adolf Eichmann

There's a movement within United Methodism called "Biblical Obedience" whose name itself is offensive to...

February 2014

February 26, 2014

The kingdom is for outsiders: a “skinny-jeans evangelical” response to @scotmcknight

I've been enjoying the stimulating conversation at the Ecclesia National Gathering in DC. Scot McKnight...

February 07, 2014

Five hypotheses about original sin and total depravity

So I went to the Facebook United Methodist Clergy page yesterday with the question of...

February 05, 2014

Did we crucify Jesus or did God? (Using @ScotMcKnight to bludgeon bad atonement theory)

Scot McKnight had a very interesting post last week concerning a recently popular"scapegoat" atonement theory...

February 03, 2014

“I used to be exactly like you before I got saved”

There are two obnoxious tendencies that many people seem to fall into quite naturally. The...

January 2014

January 31, 2014

Is God’s love more holy than his holiness is loving?

It may seem like a nonsensical distinction but I think it makes all the difference...