One of the growing frustrations many deconstructing Christians, ex-evangelicals, liberationist and liberal theologians share is how conservative organizations like The Gospel Coalition constantly misrepresent us through “straw man” fallacies. In the field of logic, a “straw man” is when somebody…
I lived in the culture of ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,’ and there’s one part of the story that’s wrong
The more people talked about Christianity Today’s new podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, the more I knew I eventually would need to listen to it. In 2004, my wife and I left our families and friends behind to…
Have you heard the one about empathy being a sin?
Empathy is in the news, and not in a good way. With recent controversial statements by John Piper and resignations of multiple staff at the church he put on the map and the seminary he led, attention has fallen to…
The need to be persecuted
Yesterday, I started teaching a new series to my adult Bible study class on 1 Thessalonians. As part of the introduction to this Pauline epistle, I attempted to explain to the class the kind of real persecution these early Christians…
It’s time to pay the Piper
On a crisp November night in 2016, I stumbled upon a message from John Piper that changed my theological and ministerial trajectory forever. I was an eager high school senior with a passion for (what I perceived to be at…
Meet the Theobros, who want you to know they’re right about everything
In this world of spiritual warfare, theological compromise and Republicans losing the White House, there lives a group of men, mostly white, who put on their armor, saddle up and ride into the glorious battlefield known as Twitter. They alone…
Al Mohler’s curious defense of conversion therapy
Conversion therapy (also known as reparative therapy) is rooted in the idea that same-sex attraction is a sickness that can be healed. Throughout most of the 20th century, psychoanalytic and behavioral psychologists had different ways of explaining same-sex attraction, but…
American Christianity in China also imports gender bias and Calvinism
Imagine if America’s coalition of conspiracy theorist, cowboy Christianity had colonized its way into the world of international politics and sexual abuse cover-ups under the guise of spreading the gospel. Research scholar Mary Li Ma believes this isn’t an imaginary scenario,…
American Gospel: Christ Crucified is stuck in a time warp
Based on the heated responses I’ve received to my review of the first American Gospel: Christ Alone documentary, I began to realize I should review producer Brandon Kimber’s second film, American Gospel: Christ Crucified. Kimber had read my first review and reached out…