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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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Self-justification

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October 2019

October 09, 2019

How I Would Rewrite Desiring God’s “Joy” Tweet

A recent drama in Christian Twitter (several news cycles ago) involved the circulation of a...

February 2019

February 02, 2019

Nein! A Response to Jason Micheli On Sanctification and Sex

Jason Micheli is my closest frenemy who isn't openly Calvinist. I love Jason, but sometimes...

July 2018

July 09, 2018

Good Biblical Words: Mercy (Matthew 9:13)

"Go and find out what this means: 'I desire mercy not sacrifice.'" Matthew 9:13 This...

August 2017

August 12, 2017

How Satan Wins in Charlottesville and Elsewhere

Last night, a group of white nationalists carrying tiki torches took over the UVA Lawn...

July 2017

July 19, 2017

7 Ways I’m Not Entirely Progressive

I just got back from the Wild Goose Festival. It's a great experience every year,...

June 2017

June 28, 2017

The fascinating intersectionality of the word “cuck”

One of the most bizarre phenomena of the Trump era is the reintroduction of a...

June 22, 2017

A Response to Seedbed’s Five Marks of Theological Liberalism

I would not call myself a liberal Christian. I self-identify as a progressive evangelical, which...

April 2017

April 27, 2017

The narrative that’s destroying United Methodism

There’s a narrative circulating around United Methodism. It goes something like this: if preachers would...

February 2017

February 14, 2017

The revolution will not be built on white shame

When I first entered the world of white radicalism in the early 2000's, I noticed...

November 2016

November 28, 2016

The two prayers we can pray

It seems like now would be a good time to go back to the basics....

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...

August 03, 2016

What if it were safe to be wrong?

Our political discourse has become entirely satanic. I mean that in a very specific way....

July 2016

July 19, 2016

So what about those values in Melania’s plagiarized speech?

I'm used to treating political speeches like fluff. I don't expect them to actually be...

July 19, 2016

Six things that make white Christian America toxic

Since it's Donald Trump's big week and he's an excellent bellwether of the toxicity of...

June 2016

June 28, 2016

Can queer pride save the American church?

This past Friday, as the financial world was reeling in the wake of the Brexit...

May 2016

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 10, 2016

Can traditional sexuality exist without social control?

With the rise of Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate, many conservative evangelical leaders...

April 2016

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....

February 2016

February 06, 2016

Christian salvation and the Beatitudes #4: The pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. This beatitude is everything....

November 2015

November 28, 2015

Can Christian theology promote terrorism?

We don't know exactly what motivated the white terrorist who attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic...

November 25, 2015

I’m thankful for the “ungrateful” protesters

The last time I heard my grandpa say the N-word was at a Thanksgiving dinner...

August 2015

August 20, 2015

Why moralistic meritocracy is incompatible with Christian teaching

There's a meme going around Facebook about a famous football player who boasts that he...

June 2015

June 14, 2015

Every white ally has a little bit of Rachel Dolezal

By now, just about everyone has heard of the white woman Rachel Dolezal who's been...

November 2014

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...

August 2013

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...

August 21, 2013

Seven obnoxious Jesus jukes

The phrase "Jesus juke" was originally coined by Jon Acuff in a 2010 post on...

July 2013

July 26, 2013

Total providence or total depravity? (John Cassian as a remedy for Augustinian nihilism)

In a recent post, John Meunier writes, "You cannot speak intelligently about Wesleyan theology if...

July 25, 2013

Letter to an atheist

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

July 11, 2013

It’s not heroic martyrdom to “tie up heavy burdens for others” (Matthew 23:4)

Jesus' woes against the Pharisees in Matthew 23 should be mandatory daily devotional reading for...

July 08, 2013

Why you have to be poor to treat people like Jesus did

The title is everything if you want a well-trafficked blog post. Now my task is...