On Trying Too Hard & Holiness: Jacob’s Wages
“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness…
The Joy of Knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8-16)
“The aim of spiritual formation is not behavior modification but the transformation of all those aspects of you and me where behavior comes from.” — Dallas Willard, Renovation of the…
Christians Can Use Tarot: A Case for Biblical Symbols & Spiritual Formation
“It seems as if the set of pictures in the Tarot cards were distantly descended from the archetypes of transformation, a view that has been confirmed for me in a…
Atonement With A 1000 Faces: Humanity as the Unified Theory
“The current gospel then becomes a ‘gospel of sin management.’ Transformation of life and character is no part of the redemptive message.” — Dallas Willard A millennia-long battle has been…
Speaking Two Levels at Once: How Scripture Uses Mystery as a Tutor
Scholars like Francis Schaeffer and Dallas Willard, both heavyweights, document how Western Christianity bifurcated truth into two realms. In other words, it treated the world as if there were two…
“Be Strong and Courageous” — Decoding Joshua 1:5-9 For Everyone
Joshua 1:5-9 was one of the first Bible passages I memorized as a teenage Jesus Freak. It’s a challenge to be brave following the path God placed before us (Hebrews…
The Void Left Behind by the Restoration Movement
“Theology, in this view, was simply the inductive arrangement of the facts of Scripture… Evangelicals took their cue from the Scottish Common Sense philosophy. The Bible was a Baconian handbook…
Subverting the Mysteries: Cana, Dionysus, & New Creation — John 2:1-12
“Count the days… we are on the seventh day. John is telling us that with Jesus, God’s new creation has begun. The water turning to wine is the sign that…
On Intelligence
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is…
The Violent Absurdity of Faith
Throwback from February 15, 2017, and updated on 5/10/2026. Over eight years, a lot of things have changed…and a lot has not. Faith is often thought of as an all-in or…
