The “Y” in the Road

“The notion of a divinely ordained place of punishment for the wicked after death is deeply embedded in the Christian imagination. How should we think and talk about hell?” A common assumption of life and the universe is that after death every person will face this Y in the road. According to evangelical christianity, those…

The Invitation

The other day at the end of a Renovatus podcast, I heard this open invitation to the eucharist/communion table. It struck me as sacred, beautiful, and embracing. I wanted to remember it and to share it, so I am posting it here. This is the Table, not of the church, but of the Lord. It…

Unfit, Unworthy, Even Rotten

“Shame is that secret belief that you are unfit, unworthy, even rotten.” Ze Frank Shame hinders us in very common ways, such as feelings and thoughts of fear, rejection, unworthiness, not belonging, and self-hatred. People go through life afraid that it is true that they are somehow inferior and unworthy, and desperately afraid that other…

Our Response to God’s Decisive Act

Salvation perspectives that infer a contingent transaction are overwhelmingly common with the evangelical gospel message. In this post, I want to discuss the possibility that we can express the gospel in ways that override this default perspective. The reason for Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf was because we were helpless to reconcile ourselves to God.…

The Gospel of Exclusion

The message of exclusion is a fundamental problem for christianity and the church today. While there are abundant examples of the message of exclusion, the Chik-Fil-A episode is an obvious recent example. Regardless of the first amendment issues involved, this was an epic failure in communicating the message of Christ for the christians who were…