The Good Samaritan: A Updated Reimagining
Based On Luke 10:25-37 ESV And behold, a seminary professor stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What…
“Do Not Let Your Left Hand Know…” – Secret Acts and Public Faith
Jesus still goes a bit further with "Do not let your left hand know what your right is doing." At least, my brain thinks he did. Of the other measures Jesus called you and me to take to ensure that we don't mess it up, this one is pretty messed up and borderline impossible.To do this, literally, you have to ensure that all the thoughts and thinking involved in moving your right hand don't even cross to the other side of your brain. Our brains have two hemispheres, and each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body. These hemispheres are bridged through the corpus callosum, lobes, brainstem, cerebellum, and others.
Agapology: The Theological Absence of Love
Over a decade ago, while serving as a youth pastor in Eastern Montana, I read Greg Boyd’s The Myth of A Christian Nation. Boyd pointed out a striking irony: despite…
Leaving Our Fathers & Mothers: A Dilemma of Fear and Faith
At the end of Genesis 2, right before the shrewd serpent enters the next chapter, it states, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast…
Faith Redefined & The Evangelical Disconnect
Faith is a pivotal point in Evangelicalism. Recently, I was working on a client website, an Evangelical organization I have personal experience with from my time as a pastor. In…
Rethinking The Samaritan Woman: Part One
When you think of the Samaritan woman from John 4, how do you perceive her? What kind of person do you think she was?For many, she was a promiscuous woman who had been shunned by her community. For much of church history, this is how she has been taught: a woman whose sexual escapades had been exposed in the public spotlight. This is how I had been taught my whole life, from middle school Sunday school lessons through bible college courses. I've heard it preached this way in 2024. You will find no shortage of commentaries and blog posts affirming this conclusion
Questioning Divine Intervention: A Critical Examination
Did God Save Trump? Was Trump’s assassination attempt divinely prevented? Not in the way American Protestant heretics are claiming. Nero and Cyrus could have both made such claims while Jesus…
Rediscovering the Matriarch: Sarah’s Legacy
We humans love simplicity. We reduce intricate complexities to black and white, ignoring the intricate complexities of nature and reducing the supernatural to a set of rules that would make a great board game. We do the same thing with the Bible - we paint over the whole with whatever flavor we wish to taste. The joint nature of Abraham's blessing often escapes notice. We often let Sarah play a background role in Abraham's story. But God didn't relegate her to the sidelines. He told Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her" (Genesis 17:15-16). The promise was for both. Also, God told Abraham that he could not call him "my" princess anymore. She is a princess, with or without Abraham.
An Evangelical Intervention: When Patriotism Becomes Idolatry
There's a dissonance, a discordant note that cannot be ignored. It's skewed, and ripe for manipulation and exploitation. Perhaps it feels comfortable, a familiar battle cry that resonates within your echo chambers. But if it incites anger and shuts down genuine dialogue, if it echoes the same primal sins that have plagued humanity since Cain and Abel, then it's demonstrably not the Gospel Jesus preached.It's precisely this distorted gospel that's hemorrhaging members from churches across the nation. It's the reason a new generation, the "Exvangelicals" and "Deconstructionists" you readily dismiss, are walking away. They're the fruit of a poisonous tree, a movement born out of disillusionment and a desperate yearning for authenticity. They are a living testament to the corrosive effects of a gospel that has lost its way.
Beyond John 3:16: The Serpent In Redemption
John 3:16 often feels like a cliché, plastered on billboards and game signs, stripped of its profound meaning. But let's shift our focus to the verses just before it, where Jesus draws a parallel between Himself and the serpent Moses lifted in the wilderness. This imagery is not just historical or theological; it’s deeply personal. We, like the Israelites, grumble and turn against each other, becoming snakes in our impatience and selfishness. The serpent on the pole wasn’t just a divine solution; it was a mirror, forcing them to confront their sin and shame. Similarly, when we look at Jesus lifted on the cross, we’re invited to face our darkest selves, recognize our capacity for both harm and good, and embrace the transformative power of love and redemption.
