Destiny is a strange concept.  In all of this there is a deep sense in the hearts of many people that there is such a thing as destiny, and people have a role to play in it. However most of us find our way into our place naturally. We adapt to the world around us and accept that our sitz im leben is not something we should seek to alter. There are, however, some people who choose to kick against... Read more

Alright so there is a conversation going on at r/christianity about Tattoos… A number of years ago I got a few tattoos to express my faith. I thought I would post a few pictures and explain why I got each one.  The CHI RHO – I love this symbol it is composed of the first two letters in Greek of the word for Chris. Χριστός It’s a translation of the hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ which means “anointed one”  It’s on the... Read more

One of the most influential thinkers in the early church was Origen. Although later condemned for some of his more platonic theology, Origen was immensely popular in his own time. Origen was the first Christian writer to try to wrestle through the theology of the sacrifice on the cross in a philosophically coherent way. He asked how can the Christ as Logos of God be correctly and convincingly understood understood as possessing saving power?[1]  As a man deeply influenced by Plato... Read more

The Christian church followed many of the Greeks in an shift away from the need to offer sacrifices as a way of pleasing God, although they did it for very different reasons. The early church believed that in light of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross sacrifice was no longer necessary. Jesus had made a sacrifice once and for all and stood in the place of a priest for all the church through all of time. When Christians talked... Read more

The woods is shining this morning. Red, gold and green, the leaves lie on the ground, or fall, or hang full of light in the air still. Perfect in its rise and in its fall, it takes the place it has been coming to forever. It has not hastened here, or lagged. See how surely it has sought itself, its roots passing lordly through the earth. See how without confusion it is all that it is, and how flawless its... Read more

This week I taught this lesson on Mark 8:27-38. I’d love to hear comments! Read more

Want a Free Bible? The Amazon Kindle has you covered If you want to read the Bible and have a kindle it’s really easy. There are quite a few editions of the Bible that are made available (as of this writing) for free online. Click the image of the one you want below and start reading! Enjoy! Read more

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The interview below was conducted as part of a broader project to end racism and racial injustice called “Giving Up Racism” Matt is a staff member of the christian para-church college outreach “Intervarsity” as the communications coordinator with InterVarsity’s Multiethnic Ministries department. He’s on a mission to find new ways to bring the healing power of the Gospel into the broken relationships that exists between races. If you are interest in supporting his ministry check out the link below: Support... Read more

This week a few friends and I looked through Jeremiah 7:1-15. It’s a text that doesn’t get looked at a whole lot. Most Sunday lectionaries don’t included it (I believe the Anglicans are the only ones), and few people spend a lot of time reflecting on the beauty and power of the Prophets in their personal study. I think one of the reasons for this is that people often think that prophets are too difficult to understand. This is a... Read more