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June 2020

June 18, 2020

Why Kevin DeYoung’s “Culture War Strategy” Fails

The Gospel Coalition published an article by Kevin DeYoung decrying the Supreme Court decision that...

June 02, 2020

All Poetry Is God-Breathed

All poetry is God-breathed And useful for divine teaching Not because the words are Right...

March 2020

March 31, 2020

The Battle For Eucharist

There was a scandal in early Methodism about Eucharist at some point. I don't have...

February 2019

February 05, 2019

Two Visions And A Council For Our Discernment

"Saul, why do you persecute me?" "What God has made clean, you must not call...

May 2018

May 03, 2018

No, The Bible Does Not Condemn Domestic Violence

For those of you who have been following the drama around fundamentalist seminary president Paige...

September 2017

September 23, 2017

When It Became My Duty Not to Stand for the National Anthem

The gift that Trump has given to American Christians is to reveal what is at...

April 2017

April 21, 2017

The debate that’s older than Paul’s letter to the Galatians (#NoSuchLaw)

The United Methodist Church faces a major flashpoint next week when our Judicial Council meets...

April 20, 2017

Freedom, inspiration, and solidarity: how I understand Christian salvation today

I have spent most of my adult life trying to figure out how to talk...

August 2016

August 24, 2016

Is Jesus the only way to God?

This week's Crackers and Grape Juice episode addressed the question "Is Jesus the only way...

June 2016

June 23, 2016

My quarrel with N.T. Wright about sex

I realize we're not supposed to quarrel with N.T. Wright. Because he's already refuted every...

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 31, 2016

Two different ways to define orthodoxy

What does it mean to be orthodox? It depends on which definition of the Greek...

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 07, 2016

A prophecy and two visions from Acts for our United Methodist General Conference

The book of Acts is supposed to model for us how the early church engaged...

April 2016

April 24, 2016

In what sense are we called to be empty?

For several years, Diana Trautwein has been a wise aunt to many of us in...

April 14, 2016

That time the apostle Paul actually gave direct instructions about sex

I've been having the usual never-ending social media conversation about sexuality, so I thought it...

April 10, 2016

Do we need to be saved like Saul of Tarsus was saved?

Today's lectionary scripture includes Acts 9, the story of Saul's conversion into the apostle Paul....

April 06, 2016

Queerness, the idolatry of norms, and the “new” morality

I wish that United Theological Seminary president David Watson could have been at lunch with...

January 2016

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...

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 12, 2015

If God is a cop, then every cop is God

Over the past year, as police brutality against people of color has come under increasing...

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...

July 2014

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...

May 2014

May 07, 2014

“Everything created by God is good” (1 Timothy 4:4)

I stumbled across a beautiful passage in my scripture reading today: 1 Timothy 4:4-5. Paul...

February 2014

February 22, 2014

Three highly ignored teachings of the New Testament: Sabbath healings, circumcision, and unclean food

One of the main reasons that many Christians fall short who are earnestly seeking to...

February 12, 2014

The Bible has room for more than one gay Christian story

A couple of weeks ago, at Wheaton College, a very interesting dialogue happened. The campus...

August 2013

August 27, 2013

Standing your ground, Jesus style #podcast

Last weekend's sermon was on 2 Timothy 4 where Paul gives Timothy advice for how...

August 26, 2013

How the despised ones bring everything to nothing (1 Cor 1:28)

"He has chosen the lowly things of this world: the despised ones and those who...

July 2013

July 14, 2013

How does the Bible model Biblical discernment? (Acts 15)

Two weeks ago, Jonathan Martin kicked off his "Both And" sermon series on Biblical interpretation...