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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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January 2013

January 27, 2013

God’s grace in 4 stick figure drawings

We had the first session of our new member class today. During the first class,...

January 27, 2013

God's grace in 4 stick figure drawings

We had the first session of our new member class today. During the first class,...

January 18, 2013

Lance Armstrong and the need for grace

I'm not going to argue whether or not you should forgive Lance Armstrong or not...

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 30, 2012

Looking Back on 2012: Aug-Sept

August and September were busy months for my blog. There was the Chik-Fil-A drama and...

December 29, 2012

Looking back on 2012: June-July

In June and July, I wrote about my family reunion, the culture wars, a whole...

December 26, 2012

Looking Back on 2012: Jan-Feb

I figured I would end 2012 by reviewing a selection of my posts from throughout...

December 25, 2012

Let God be a baby

God's not allowed to be a baby. That was the thought that scandalized 5th century...

December 24, 2012

Why name him Jesus?

In Matthew 1:21, Gabriel says to Mary, ""You are to give him the name Jesus,...

December 23, 2012

Word, life, light: the eternal side of Christmas

I decided to do something different for my LifeSign sermon this weekend. Normally for Christmas,...

December 21, 2012

It's the beginning (again), not the end!

Well today is the last day on the ancient Mayan calendar, so I expect there...

December 20, 2012

Love; don't profile

I had a disturbing conversation this week with a friend who has a child who's...

December 13, 2012

Don't disdain the pragmatic and aesthetic sides of the gospel

This is going to be a short one. I just want to make an appeal...

December 13, 2012

The "Kantian" and "Nietzschean" threads of evangelical piety

There are certain rhetorical moves that evangelicals make in their arguments to "out-pious" their interlocutors....

December 12, 2012

Original sin, part one: Romans 5:12-21

Original sin. There are few Christian doctrines that cause more scandal for people living today....

December 10, 2012

Two opposite ways to "delight in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11)

Those of you who have been following my journey know that I keep on stumbling...

December 09, 2012

Isaiah 11: making lions into lambs (a sermon in slides)

I've decided to keep things simple. Here is the audio from this Saturday's sermon: And...

December 04, 2012

Jesus come back ('cause we've gotten off track)

This is Advent translated into hip-hop for Christians who are able to admit that we...

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...

November 28, 2012

Salvation from "getting saved": the first 6000 words

Getting saved. These two words describe the best-selling product of one of the most successful...

November 27, 2012

Review: The Awakening of Hope by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

The Awakening of Hope, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s new book, is a breath of fresh air in...

November 26, 2012

Morality: therapeutic or forensic?

I just got back from a meeting to discuss my older son's progress in school....

November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving: Our Duty and Our Salvation

Every week at the Monday mass in the basilica during the Eucharist liturgy, the priest...

November 19, 2012

My favorite Catholic hymn: There's A Wideness in God's Mercy

Today at the basilica Monday mass like many weeks, our recessional hymn was "There's a...

November 13, 2012

A vision for my future church plant

I'm spending this week at the Virginia conference's New Church Leadership Institute training for church...

October 2012

October 26, 2012

How children save us

Over the past several years, as I've gone through the ordination process, I have had...

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 15, 2012

Garden Walls (a reappropriated love song about prevenient grace)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQh6eISTpHM&feature=youtu.be In 1999, I wrote a sonnet while sitting on a couch at a party...

October 15, 2012

Everything I have belongs to You (a song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yEte6_Si_4&feature=youtu.be This is the first song that I've written in two years. It's basically about...

October 10, 2012

Red Letter Christianity: unpaving the Romans Road

I figured it might be good for my hits to push back against an exegetically...