There are those angry voices out there, shouting that Jesus “demands obedience” and we need to get “radical” and if you are a “real” Christian then you aren’t a “nominal” Christian and that means you have an “urgency” to save souls while selling all that you own and giving it to the poor. Bullshit. “My Continue reading

There is a tendency by those who hold faith to read the world ideologically. What I mean is that there is a tendency in certain circles to interact with different ideas according to how well those ideas fit into a preexisting schema. As a graduate student at a Christian university, I suppose I should have Continue reading

Programming note: I have an updated understanding and account of Christian marriage here that I think is more accurate. * * * So God created man in his own image,      in the image of God he created him;      male and female he created them. There is a large stream of Christian Continue reading

“Lean into it,” I whisper to the screen. The words come out sounding inevitable. Like there is no other choice. Like: this shit happens whether you want it or not. And I’m not even sure who I was whispering to. Those children? Their parents? The aid workers? Myself? Because it’s not just them. Or just Continue reading

Yesterday, I blogged about the problem I have being able to interact with God as if he were an external friend with whom I could have a social relationship. You can read that post here. Today, I am going to describe the way I approach prayer. I am an INTJ (weak on the I. I’m Continue reading

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I am reading T.M. Luhrmann’s book—When God Talks Back. Dr. Luhrmann is a psychological anthropologist. The book focuses on her investigation of the way prayer works for evangelical Christians. Specifically, she has researched charismatic evangelical Christians within the Vineyard denomination. While I am not going to fully Continue reading

Sarah Bessey has asked “What is saving your life right now?” These are my responses: * * * I’m spending this week with Grandma. And so yesterday she and I loaded up into the suburban and drove the four minutes to Third & Dwight Church of Christ. And there is the man—who Grandma says is Continue reading

I have been involved with various Christian camps—mostly ACU’s Leadership Camps—for a good chunk of my life. In the summer of 2009 I was a counselor for ACU’s camps. In the summer of 2010 I became a head counselor for ACU’s camps. And, this past summer, I reprised that role. Additionally, I attended ACU camps Continue reading

I haven’t blogged in a month. Not that anyone has really missed me but me. But still, this is the longest stretch in a while that I haven’t posted something on the internet for someone other than me to read. This is even more interesting given my lack of social media. Which, by the way, Continue reading

Jesus transforms lives. And he does it through his Spirit and through other people. This story will be—of necessity—incomplete and inadequate. Nevertheless, I hope that I communicate the essence of what Jesus has done in and through me. I grew up going to church. And it wasn’t just “going to church” either. I grew up Continue reading

Here is a TED talk that explains part of the reason why I recently deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts. In the words of Richard Beck (I found the video because he posted it on his blog) “I found the talk, by turns, both scary and sad.” Continue reading