As many know, I have long been a proponent of the view of Annihilationism, which is the view that instead of hell, those who refuse to accept God cease to exist. The other day I was honest about the fact that I am rethinking my position in favor of Universal Redemption, which is essentially Christian Universalism. While I have not completely crossed over yet, and thus would make a less than stellar apologist for the position, I do want to... Read more
What happened in Orlando recently is certainly worthy of outrage and action. 49 people killed in cold blood, and many more lying in hospital beds wounded. Between the lives cut short, and the lives that will never be the same, Orlando should be a moment the nation does not soon forget. Certainly tragedies, natural disasters, and acts of terror have a way of bringing the nation together—and this is good. Finding solidarity and common ground wherever it exists should always... Read more
It’s no secret- I’ve been a little hard on my Calvinist friends over the years (well, I only have 2 so there’s that). I’ve critiqued some of the crazy things their leaders have said. I’ve pointed out why some of their core beliefs are utterly offensive to me. What can I say? Calvin and I have a pretty contentious relationship, if you could really call it that. But for all my criticism of Calvinism, and my open distain for the... Read more
When I was part-way through doctoral work that included conducting extensive field-based research in the world of human trafficking, I had a small crisis: What I was learning and discovering did not line up with what I believed going into the study. I had a few experiences previously that initially triggered me to reconsider the trafficking narrative I began with. The first one was while riding in a taxi down the streets of Mumbai when a colleague told me she was... Read more
I grew up in the United States, which means I grew up in an individualistic culture. Human cultures are oriented on certain frameworks, and one of them is a balance between collectivism (focusing on what’s good for the group) versus individualism (placing a higher value on the individual). This individualistic approach to seeing the world and one’s self becomes deeply ingrained within us, often going unnoticed until we see culture express itself in a different way. I was recently traveling... Read more
Franklin Graham, in his never-ending quest to define one of the largest religions in the world by minority extremists, is wondering why Bella Abzug is refusing to denounce “Islam’s treatment of women.” Yesterday he posted on Facebook in response to what I agree, is an outrageous proposal in Pakistan to allow wife-beating. The proposal was submitted by a leader of a Pakistani Islamic council, and while hardly indicative of Islam as a whole, it’s a disgusting proposal that the world should... Read more
I hear the claim, “Jesus wasn’t a pacifist!” a lot. But is it true? Was Jesus a pacifist, or not? What we know about Jesus comes to us from the four New Testament Gospel accounts, so that is where we must look for our answer—especially to those of us who would affirm the inspiration and authority of the Christian Scriptures. However, first the word pacifism: it’s a deceptive word, for sure. On the surface, many assume the word refers to... Read more
About 10 years ago, I met Trey Pearson at a concert where his band, Everyday Sunday, was touring with Skillet. All these years later, Trey has now sold hundreds of thousands of albums, had multiple number one singles, and toured all around the world as part of the Christian music scene. And today, Trey publicly came out as gay. In an interview with 614 magazine that releases today (you can find the full interview, here), Trey tells his story of slowly... Read more
If one follows the news they’d see that many major Christian denominations are split over LGBTQ inclusion. As I have followed these developments, one observation that has stood out in my mind is that the division over LGBTQ inclusion is a recent development, historically speaking. This means one thing: the movement to include and affirm our LGBTQ brothers and sisters in the church is growing. I believe we are seeing the early stages of what will be, within a generation, a seismic... Read more
In the world of trafficking, porn is just a low hanging fruit that becomes an easy scapegoat for the bigger issue at play—and is an easy scapegoat at that, because most people will never question whether or not it's true. Read more
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