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May 2024

May 23, 2024

What is Legalism in Christianity?

The charge of "Legalism," or of being legalistic, can often come quick and hard in...

May 03, 2024

Can Dreams Be Sinful?

In contemporary Christianity the claim is often made that only behaviors are sinful. However, the...

March 2024

March 14, 2024

Four Warnings For Christians Engaged In Spiritual Battle

In my last post on Deuteronomy Chapter 7, I discussed the three reasons the Bible...

November 2023

November 07, 2023

What is Christian Martyrdom?

Martyrdom is a notoriously misunderstood idea, at least in the Christian sense of the concept....

September 2023

September 25, 2023

Pulled through Fire: How I Almost Died but Jesus Rescued Me

I never acted out much when I was a kid. I never smoked, drank, or...

April 2023

April 05, 2023

This Easter, Choose Resurrection Life Over The Culture of Death

As we enter into Easter week, my exhortation to all who read these words is...

March 2023

March 01, 2023

Toiling in Obscurity: Working For The Gospel When No One Is Looking

In the most celebrated teaching in all human history, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus...

February 2023

February 24, 2023

The Most Subtle of All Sins

Read time: 8 minutes Is there a sin more subtle than the rest? A disposition...

February 10, 2023

A Tip For Your Next Small Group Study: Clement of Alexandria’s “Paedagogus”

Read time: 10 minutes Small group studies in American Evangelicalism usually revolve around one or...

January 2023

January 18, 2023

Should Christians Use Perfume?

St. Paul wrote the following to the church in Corinth: But thanks be to God,...

September 2022

September 30, 2022

Recovering From a Heart Attack (Conclusion): Giving Thanks & What Will Change?

This is the final post in a series about my recent heart attack and quadruple...

September 26, 2022

Recovering From a Heart Attack (Part 4): Experiencing God & The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings

In this series, I am recounting the work of God in my own life. This...

September 16, 2022

Recovering From A Heart Attack (Part 1): When God Takes You On A “Detour”

A note to my readers: This next series will cover some personal ground. In my...

September 12, 2022

What Should Christians Study?: Part 4 – Spiritual Formation

One fundamental element of Christian discipleship is the pursuit of sacred knowledge. We might say...

August 2022

August 19, 2022

Why It’s Good To Be Unappreciated

Never and nowhere has it been claimed that living an authentically Christian life will lead...

August 07, 2022

Should Evangelicals Have Children? (Part 1): On Sacrifice

When this month's "Topics To Write About" list for Patheos authors arrived in my inbox,...

June 2022

June 10, 2022

Two Ways of Knowing God: Scholasticism And Mysticism

In his 1930 Church History for "upper high school & college courses and adult reading,"...

April 2022

April 22, 2022

The First Temptation(s) Of Christ: The Temptation of the Eyes

In this series I have looked at each of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness. First...

April 01, 2022

The First Temptation(s) of Christ: The Trial of The Ego

In this short series I am looking at the three temptations of Christ as recorded...

March 2022

March 18, 2022

The First Temptation(s) of Christ: The Trial of the Body

In this short series I am looking at the wilderness temptations of Jesus, who is...

March 14, 2022

The First Temptation(s) of Christ: The Test of Waiting

In this short series I am looking at the first temptations of Christ (that we...

January 2022

January 20, 2022

As The “Nuclear” Family Goes, So Goes God?

Let's compare two contemporary views on the nature of the family. The first is that...

January 14, 2022

Living in An “On Demand” World: Instant Gratification and The Perseverance of the Saints

The idea of instant gratification consumes our culture. The main reason for this is relatively...

December 2021

December 31, 2021

Moral Decision Making and The Fear of the Lord: Part 4 – Acts of Seduction

In this series I have looked at some common starting points from which we, as...

December 22, 2021

Moral Decision Making and The Fear of the Lord: Part 2 – Acts of Fraud

In this series I am arguing that the right starting point for any moral decision...

December 20, 2021

Moral Decision Making and The Fear of the LORD: Part 1 – Acts of Fear

In Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity, moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre says this about making moral...

December 10, 2021

To Have The Faith of A Child: A Christmas Meditation

In most of my articles on Patheos, I intend to present what I believe are...

November 2021

November 03, 2021

Reconstructing Humanity – Part 5: Longing For Recognition

In this series, I have argued there are shared features among cultures and between individuals...

October 2021

October 08, 2021

Denzel’s “Indelible Mark” and The Spirit of God

I recently came across this short video of the greatest actor alive today, Denzel Washington...

September 2021

September 24, 2021

Resentment and Her Children: The Emotional Heart of Critical Theory

Critical Theories, and most prominently Critical Race Theory, are, on the one hand, sophisticated intellectual...