The central claim of our faith is: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” Don’t let the poetic familiarity of the language fool you, this is an audacious claim. Christians believe that God looks and loves like Jesus.
Do we worship the flag?
For many Americans, the flag stirs emotions far deeper than anything God inspires. Have we created a national religion in which the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the sacrifice of soldiers on the field of battle, and the invincibility of American firepower are practically indistinguishable?
You don’t have to live like a refugee
You can read David Gushee’s “Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelicalism” in an evening or afternoon. You can and you should.
The megachurch bubble is about to burst: What will that mean for American culture?
What would happen if megachurches mixed in some good news for the poor, a little “the least of these,” a little “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”?
The white singularity: The racial divide in American evangelicalism
The great divide in our country is not between the secular left and the religious right; it’s between white evangelicals who vote Republican and non-white evangelicals who don’t.
The curse of Ham: Black Baptists question their place in the SBC
A proposed resolution condemning the alt-right which was submitted to the Southern Baptist Convention last month included a reference to the “curse of Ham.” The statement eventually adopted by the SBC omitted the reference. And that’s a problem.
Culture warriors make crummy Christians
Culture warriors make crummy Christians. As liberals and conservatives battle for dominance American religion has been co-opted by both sides. Conservatives want to shore up the mainstays of traditional American culture: a civil religion suitable for teaching in the public…
In praise of political preaching
Kingdom preaching is dangerous, and it has always been divisive, but the price of our safe silence has been staggering.
Criticizing Trump’s ethics is easy. Building a church around the ethics of Jesus? That’s hard.
Last year I spent 250 hours driving around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for my job as a hospice chaplain. As I drive I listen to sermons and lectures from cutting edge biblical scholars, theologians and preachers, and podcasts and YouTube…