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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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Ephesians 2

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August 2016

August 18, 2016

Can the gospel be orthodox and inclusive?

One of the tragedies of our civil war in United Methodism has been the bifurcation...

July 2014

July 22, 2014

The only two sides of any human conflict for Christians who love their enemies

We live in a world that loves to draw lines between "us" and "them." This...

November 2013

November 06, 2013

How I read the Bible differently than John MacArthur

A friend pointed me to Tim Challies' recent interview with John MacArthur in which MacArthur...

June 2013

June 21, 2013

Eternal life is living in God’s poetry

Growing up evangelical, I had drilled into me the dichotomy between "the law" and "grace."...

April 2013

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....

March 2013

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...

January 2013

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 05, 2012

Biblical literalism + magisterial inertia = sacramental Pelagianism?

I've been reading through Augustine's anti-Pelagian writings in which he spends a whole lot of...

October 2012

October 23, 2012

Strength vs. integrity: a Biblical response to the presidential debate

What I learned from last night's final presidential debate (which was the first one I...

October 14, 2012

Communion or correctness? The underlying question.

Is God's goal for humanity communion or correctness? The way you answer that question will...

August 2012

August 23, 2012

Worship not performance

In contemporary Christian worship, a distinction is often made between worship that is "really worship"...

July 2012

July 19, 2012

How can blood tear down a wall? Sacrifice in Ephesians 2:11-22

This past weekend, I preached on Ephesians 2:11-22. It’s one of my favorite passages because...

July 10, 2012

Jesus vs. zombies in Ephesians 2

This past weekend for my message on Ephesians 2:1-10, I decided on a zombie theme...

July 06, 2012

Why I’m not offended by so-called “socialism”

In a recent interview with George Stephanopoulos, Congressman Paul Ryan said that he had a...

June 2012

June 22, 2012

More thoughts on God’s wrath

What exactly is God's wrath? I raised the question in my last piece about misconceptions...

June 20, 2012

Four Cringe-worthy Claims of Popular Penal Substitution Theology

I've often wondered if the same thing that makes violent video games appealing is why...

May 2012

May 22, 2012

Trust not opinion

In the information age, people define themselves primarily by their opinions rather than their actual...

May 18, 2012

The witness of the sons of hell

The 23rd chapter of Matthew is probably the harshest speech that Jesus ever gave. We...

January 2012

January 12, 2012

Why I hate doctrine but love Jesus (response to a similarly named video)

Over the last two days, a video by spoken word artist Jeff Bethke called "Why...

October 2011

October 24, 2011

I want to be in the 1% who get God's grace

Apparently there have been a number of photos circulating the Internet in which people hold...

October 24, 2011

I want to be in the 1% who get God’s grace

Apparently there have been a number of photos circulating the Internet in which people hold...

August 2011

August 03, 2011

Fe temporal vs. fe salvador: Spanish Bible study adventures #1

I have started leading a Wednesday morning Bible study in Spanish at the Lamb Center,...

June 2011

June 09, 2011

Marc Carpenter and Today’s Pelagianism

Okay I recognize that most people who would read my blog wouldn't have any reason...

May 2011

May 16, 2011

Justification by Faith: 3 Perspectives

I want to hypothesize that the basis for the opposing perspectives in the "Rob Bell...