Our church is in the middle of a pastoral call, and I spent a decent part of this year as a member of our transition team. In that role I got to survey members and aggregate their hopes and fears for the future. I also spoke with people individually about what they wanted to see… Continue reading The Pastor is Just Another Member

Between the ages of say 21 and 30 or so, if you had asked me what religion I was I probably would’ve said Buddhist. I didn’t belong to a sangha or sit with a sensei. I was more attracted to it philosophically. After leaving Christianity (turns out I never really left, what I left was… Continue reading A Zen Heart on a Christian Path

Because I draft my blogs about a month before I publish—an author’s convention aimed somewhat unsuccessfully at preventing embarrassment and regret from hastily penned screeds—I am writing this mere days after a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I am very progressive. It won’t… Continue reading On A Recent Reminder of Bonhoeffer’s Costly Grace

2 Corinthians 12:9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. A good while ago a good friend who is also a pastor texted me… Continue reading Only One Who Has Failed Can Find a New Way to Win

I am haunted by the creation story. It’s not that I believe in the literal six-day creation or even an actual place called the garden of Eden. What amazes me about the story of the garden and our fall – our original occasion for sin – is that sin is the recognition that we are… Continue reading Healing Our Separation from God

Note: I write my posts about a month prior to publishing. I point this out because this post could be seen as a response to the terrible news of the assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump. It is not. While I condemn any violence at all, the news really changes nothing about my thoughts… Continue reading Your Christian Voting Guide

I play MusicLeague with members of my family and their friends. The Cake song, “Frank Sinatra,” made one of the playlists. It hit me hard — Cake wrote a song about how quaint Frank Sinatra records were for them and now almost 30 years later, Cake is quaint to GenZ. The chronological distance that my… Continue reading A Faintly Glimmering Radio Station

Christian nationalism is abhorrent in any form it takes. One recent form is Louisiana legislation that mandates posting the Ten Commandments on the walls of every classroom in the state. Setting aside the obvious constitutional issues – should Satanists post their commandments on every classroom wall as well? – this blending of church and state… Continue reading Some Thoughts on The Ten Commandments

I received a question from a reader on the post Your Church is Not Biblical: “how do you follow the Christian faith when you are so critical of the Bible?” First, I’m not (that) critical of the Bible, at least not in the way I think this question intends. Anyone who is serious about Christianity… Continue reading More Than Words

Last week I posted how N. T. Wright influenced my views of the resurrection. I was already convinced of the living Christ based on personal experience, but I found his resurrection arguments a convincing enough explanation of the peculiarities of early Christianity. Unfortunately, Wright holds some very conservative views on same-sex relationships that I disagree… Continue reading And Now, My Frustration with N.T. Wright