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Mercy Not Sacrifice

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May 2019

May 08, 2019

Democratized Theology vs. Theology of the Demos (Mob)

I should have known that I was going to get snarky replies from conservative evangelicals...

January 2019

January 20, 2019

“Unfortunate and Regrettable”

The boys of Covington Catholic High School stole the show at this weekend's March for...

September 2018

September 27, 2018

Brett Kavanaugh and the Crisis of Authoritarian Truth

I haven't had the psychological tenacity to watch the Kavanaugh hearings today. But I have...

July 2018

July 12, 2018

Good Biblical Words: Truth (John 1:5)

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not seize it. John 1:5...

May 2018

May 14, 2018

The Rich Variety of God’s Wisdom (Ephesians 3:10)

Today's daily office epistle reading is part of the beautifully mystical letter to the Ephesians....

December 2017

December 14, 2017

Grace, Truth, and Eucharist in an Age of Disposable People

I was originally going to write something about Roy Moore and the 81% of white...

July 2017

July 31, 2017

What Does Winning Look Like for Christians?

Before Donald Trump became president, he promised that if he were elected, Americans would "win...

June 2017

June 10, 2017

How Should Christians Respond to the Demise of Donald Trump?

How should Christians respond to Donald Trump's meltdown? My first instinct is schadenfreude. Because 81%...

January 2017

January 04, 2017

How did defenders of absolute truth become post-truth ideologues?

A crucial part of my conservative evangelical upbringing was learning about the difference between “absolute...

November 2016

November 22, 2016

Resisting Satan in an age without integrity

My wife Cheryl has integrity. I often make fun of her for it. When she's...

April 2016

April 20, 2016

No, heaven and hell are not about afterlife insurance

I was handed a tract last night on Tulane's campus that gave me the answer...

April 15, 2016

The 12 scriptures that inspired my book

When I was a Southern Baptist, we used to believe that Methodists didn't read the...

December 2014

December 29, 2014

A hopefully friendly Christian response to the atheist ten non-commandments

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine shared a set of ten "non-commandments"...

July 2014

July 15, 2014

“Try me, O Lord, and test me” (a prayer for integrity, Psalm 26:2-3)

Today's Daily Office reading included two verses from a psalm that comprise an awesome prayer...

February 2014

February 13, 2014

Have you ever been thrown into hell or did you pluck your eyeball out in time? (Matthew 5:29)

Jesus says some pretty wild things, but this week's lectionary reading includes one of his...

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...

September 2013

September 17, 2013

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…”

The gospel reading at my Monday mass was Luke 7:1-10, the story of the centurion...

August 2013

August 06, 2013

Five verses God has tattooed on my heart: #4 Psalm 119:113

Two years ago, I decided to give myself a challenge as I was starting out...

August 05, 2013

Five verses God has tattooed on my heart: #3 John 1:5

In my second semester of Biblical Greek in seminary, I discovered John 1:5, "The light...

August 02, 2013

Five verses God has tattooed on my heart — #1: 1 Corinthians 1:28

In seminary, I learned to think of truth as a symphony rather than a single...

June 2013

June 25, 2013

When I forget my song…

There's an African folktale that I've read with both of my sons. In the story,...

June 10, 2013

Fearing God vs. carrying a fearsome god-puppet who agrees with you

Those who have read this blog for a while will recall that about a year...

February 2013

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 06, 2013

Moses’ veil or mirrors of glory? 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

I had a very uncanny experience today with the Daily Office. In a blog post...

February 06, 2013

Jesus inside the beltway: love creates the space for truth

Yesterday, the young clergy leadership forum heard from Bill Mefford, the GBCS point person for...

January 2013

January 10, 2013

Engaging Spiritual but not Religious #2: Too Hooked on Truth

The second testimony I wanted to engage claims that religious people are "too hooked on...

December 2012

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 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 01, 2012

Blueprints don't make people worship

For the last month, I've been reading David Bentley Hart's Beauty of the Infinite, which...

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...