Opinions
Do I Love the Church?
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to…
Read MoreBook Review: The Divine Magician by Peter Rollins
Peter Rollins’ new book, The Divine Magician: The Disappearance of Religion and the Discovery of Faith, is a provocative theological reflection, and to my mind is Rollins’ best work yet. The book picks up where his previous work, The Idolatry of God, ended by reiterating that the meaning-laden concept of “God” can actually be the…
Read MoreLet’s Talk About Non-Violence
I made a commitment to non-violence in 2009, after surviving the coup that ousted Honduran then-president Manuel Zalaya. It wasn’t that singular event that persuaded me to commit to peace, but was rather a long series of events that culminated in a so called “moment of clarity.” AntecedentsMy spiritual heritage finds its roots in the…
Read MoreThe Older Brother
This post is inspired by Erwin McManus’ sermon of 14 December, 2014.Have you ever felt like you are on the wrong side of a story? Like the things that happen to you should have happened to someone else, or that the things that happened to someone else should have happened to you?Have you ever watched…
Read MoreLet’s Talk About Tone
Over the past few months my social media channels have become more and more saturated with social debates on a broad range of topics. As I have sought to engage these topics effectively, I have become more and more combative in my engagements. This is not due to an intention but to a lack thereof.…
Read MoreWhy Am I A Christian?
After a long conversation with an atheistic friend, he turned to me and asked–with great gentleness and compassion–“so why are you a Christian?” It seems that after the conversation he was unable to see how anything I was saying (and let me be clear, this was not an evangelistic conversation) needed a “god” figure to…
Read MoreBlind Spots
I just finished reading Mark Labberton’s new book Called. It is a wonderfully thoughtful and pastoral exhortation to live life in such a way as to be the gospel in an embodied way. I highly recommend it. As I was reading it, I began thinking about the ways I do and do not live into…
Read MoreOn Value vs. Sin
This post in inspired by Caroline Vandenbree.I have grown up in the tension between being loved and being sinful. I’ve grown up in no man’s land, between the “liberal” trench of grace on my left and the “conservative” trench of the reality of sin on my right. I’ve heard and seen many leaders berate the…
Read MoreThe Genie is Not Free; He’s Dead.
Robin Williams died yesterday of an apparent suicide. By now I’m sure this is not news, and in fact most of you will be tired of reading about it; but please, don’t stop reading this now because I have jumped on the bandwagon. I actually have something I wish to say. The Academy tweeted this after…
Read More“God Knows My Heart” and other things we need to stop saying…
Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of “God knows my heart” when an interaction has gone sour? Have you perhaps ever said that? I have, on both counts. But it’s also a saying that has never really sat well with me-even when I’ve said it! Here’s why.When we say something like…
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