Judas and Peter. Both of these men were chosen by Jesus to be part of the twelve—the first sent ones representing the new Israel. Yet the two men had drastically different fates. I don’t believe this necessarily had to be so. Neither were perfect men. I mean, Jesus once rebuked Peter as speaking for Satan!
Prepared to Fight…
The team had been working all year toward this one goal. Countless hours of practice, drills, weight training, and conditioning had been undertaken in an effort to be the best. Tonight they had a chance to make this happen. The championship game was only minutes away. The players huddled together. The team’s captain and Heisman
We Can’t Judge and Love Simultaneously
I love Greg Boyd’s proposition that we can’t judge (condemn) and love people at the same time. Obviously many Christians feel a very strong compulsion to condemn sin. Where does this come from? Probably two places. First, much of the Old Testament stresses holiness in the form of outward signs and actions. If people don’t
Spiritual Growth
I believe that spiritual growth is a journey, and the journey is not always straight forward. I believe that spiritual transformation is a slow, gradual process, measured more in terms of years rather than days and weeks. (So be patient.) I believe that spiritual growth happens best when we are continually, repeatedly reminded of God’s
Ministry Segregation
I’m noticing that many churches gender segregate their adult small groups. I wonder if this is because the average adult church goer is assumed to be married (and, because marriage seems to be a prerequisite for ministry, this is also the perspective from which the organizing pastor is making decisions). I suppose church members are
Book Review: Surprised by Hope (N. T. Wright)
I had heard good things about the book “Surprised by Hope” by N. T. Wright. I previously read his book “Simply Jesus” and thought it to be good. So I put “Surprised by Hope” on my reading list. It is a bit lengthier than the average book. However, it is the most important book I’ve
Book Review: Courtship in Crisis
I believe Thomas Umstattd Jr. has written an important book in “Courtship in Crisis“. Umstattd effectively answers the concerns which Joshua Harris brought up in the infamous book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”. Similar to that book, “Courtship in Crisis” has two main parts: a problem and a proposed solution. The main problem Umstattd addresses, and
Review: Rob Bell Everything Is Spiritual Tour
I saw some of the Nooma videos in the past and have heard about the controversy surrounding some of his books, but apart from this, I haven’t been overly familiar with Rob Bell. I heard he was going to be speaking in Nashville and, after some debate, decided it would probably be interesting enough to
Questions of Interacting With Differing Beliefs
This post is part of the July 2015 synchroblog which invited bloggers to write about “Gay Marriage”. Due to the “hot topic” nature of this subject, I’ve written quite a few times about homosexuality already. In this post, I want to try briefly and (hopefully) clearly state some of what is important to me in
Religious Trauma Syndrome
I expect this topic to be controversial. I have observed that at times people confuse a criticism of something done in the name of Christ with a criticism of God himself. But this fails to recognize that we are imperfect, and that we can make mistakes and do the wrong thing even when we are