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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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September 2013

September 25, 2013

The God who wants us to be friends #sermon #podcast

For the second weekend of our sermon series "Love Actually," we talked about philia, the...

August 2013

August 28, 2013

Why the dream has been deferred (purity culture as the backlash against the civil rights movement)

You can't say the N word anymore. You get sued if you racially discriminate in...

July 2013

July 30, 2013

A new metaphor for thinking about heaven and hell

I've been reading a very stimulating and provocative book by Pauline Biblical scholar Michael Gorman...

July 25, 2013

Letter to an atheist

Dear hitherto unknown friend, I have been invited into conversation with you by Kile Jones...

July 25, 2013

Exclusively for the excluded

I recently read a post by fellow Methodist blogger Talbot Davis critiquing the pursuit of...

July 16, 2013

Unsafe in black and white America

I was frustrated when I took this picture last night from the fifth row at...

June 2013

June 18, 2013

On redemptive suffering, #abuse, and #privilege

I just looked over an essay by Katie Mulligan that deals with the topic of...

June 12, 2013

Could you worship a God who makes Himself nothing?

[This is the first synchroblog of our new blogging collective The Despised Ones addressing the...

June 11, 2013

Paraklesis: a beautiful word (2 Corinthians 1)

The Daily Office reading for yesterday was the opening of Paul's second letter to the...

May 2013

May 30, 2013

Brian Zahnd on Cruciform Evangelism in Colossians 1:24

I was listening to Brian Zahnd's podcast Tuesday while waiting for the rest of my...

May 25, 2013

Why Tony Jones (and other emergents) should read Amos Yong’s Pentecostal theology

I posted recently about the debacle that Tony Jones got into partly because of his...

May 20, 2013

Monday Merton 5.20.13

The chapter for Monday Merton this week is very apropos. We just started a blogger's...

April 2013

April 26, 2013

752 and the messianic longing of Scandal

Since my wife is addicted to Scandal, I watched it with her last night while...

April 25, 2013

What does the blood of Jesus actually do?

A basic principle of Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins....

April 11, 2013

1 John and my pepper plants

This spring has been a difficult one for me as a gardener. My peppers have...

March 2013

March 24, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty #6: Proof of God’s Mercy

There's an elephant in the room when we talk about the cross. The cross is...

March 20, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty #5: Uncursing the World

Many Christians today misunderstand the ancient Israelite practice of sacrifice. The ancient Israelites did not...

March 11, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty #4: Reconciliation of Enemies

This weekend's sermon talks about how Jesus' cross turns ugliness into beauty by reconciling enemies...

March 03, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty #3: The Witness of Nonviolence #podcast

The third blessing of the cross is its witness of nonviolence which has provided the...

February 2013

February 26, 2013

The Son of Man, a Rave, and a Banjo

This Sunday, I preached on how Jesus' call to take up our crosses is not...

February 26, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty #2: Truth to Power

For the second sermon in our LifeSign series "Ugliness Into Beauty: Six Blessings of the...

February 12, 2013

Ugliness Into Beauty: Six Blessings of the Cross

The LifeSign alternative worship service at Burke United Methodist Church is doing a sermon series...

February 11, 2013

Surprised by mercy: my train-wreck conversion story

I was invited to share an occasion when I was surprised by mercy. It was...

January 2013

January 30, 2013

Danceable Homiletics #3: The Sting (featuring Greg Boyd)

On June 18, 2007, I made a track that I originally called "Ignore me; I'm...

January 07, 2013

Talking atonement with the confirmands

Our youth pastor invited me today to talk about atonement with our confirmation class. As you...

December 2012

December 29, 2012

Javert vs. Valjean: the two Christianities of Les Miserables

***Spoiler alert: this post presumes that you know the storyline of Les Miz.*** After watching...

November 2012

November 30, 2012

Why you need to listen to Brian Zahnd

I'm about to leave on a youth retreat so I don't have time for a...

October 2012

October 09, 2012

How can Jerry Sandusky get into heaven?

Jerry Sandusky was on the TV at the gym this morning, since his sentencing is...

July 2012

July 17, 2012

Thoughts on the alleged demise of liberal Christianity

I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Ever since the Episcopal convention last week, all the Christians...