Not many days go by without seeing some sort of “Stand with Israel” image pop up into my Facebook news feed. And, each time it does, my heart grieves over the fact that so many of my fellow Christians have been taken in by this new and dangerous theology, and in so duped into supporting terrorism and oppression… all in the name of God. I grew up believing that Israel was God’s favorite country (also commonly expressed as “the Jews... Read more
While I love the debates on whether or not a particular passage in scripture is intended to be taken literally or metaphorically, lately I’ve been wondering if after all this time, we’re simply asking the wrong set of questions. Back in February I had the opportunity to attend the Justice Conference with one of my friends who spoke on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology of social action. During an unrelated breakout session, one of the speakers broached the topic of the age... Read more
If a church were really to look like Jesus, people wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Read more
This past Friday, the House of Representatives voted to repeal/alter the Affordable Care act for the 40th time. While I am not an apologist for Obamacare, my Christian values lead me to be an outspoken supporter for the poor and oppressed, which means that I desperately want to see Obamacare implemented. Do I think it is the best plan? Absolutely not. But is it better than the “no alternative” option that’s been presented time and time again? Yes. I get... Read more
One of my biggest pet peeves in this world, is when folks in my tribe play the “persecution” card. On one hand, we can’t help it– we’ve been programmed to label any negative experience related to our faith in the category of “persecution”. However, we should know better– and should know that this is actually hurting the Christian reputation in America. I remember being well primed to interpret any negative push-back I might receive for “witnessing”, as we were warned... Read more
Earlier this week, I was honored to accept an invitation from Huffington Post Live to appear on the program to talk about hypocrisy among pro-life lawmakers, and my article “10 Things You Can’t Do and Still Call Yourself Pro-Life”. My hope was to continue to provoke a national discussion on what it really might look like to be radically in favor of life in all stages, and I am appreciative for the invitation to appear on the program. I’ve also... Read more
Since the inception of this blog and the creation of the Formerly Fundie online community, I’ve been getting a lot of mail from readers. I’ve been absolutely blown away with the amount of mail that I’ve received, and have enjoyed hearing from and interacting will all the readers out there who have reached out. On some days, getting so much mail from readers has meant building an extra 45 minutes into my day so that I can properly reply to... Read more
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite moments in life is when I put on an old jacket or an old pair of pants, reach into my pocket, and find money I didn’t know I had. It doesn’t matter if it’s a couple bucks, or $20; when you discover something of value that you didn’t realize has been there all along, it’s a great feeling. When I was at seminary, learning biblical Greek and how to navigate... Read more
Do you ever feel like a character from Rudolph’s Island of Misfit Toys? Feel like an outsider who often finds yourself living on the margins, chronically misunderstood by all the other toys who aren’t on Misfit Island? Me too. A lot of the time, I feel like a Jack-In-The-Box named “Charlie”: It strikes me that central to the human condition is a need/desire to be part of a tribe, to be included, and to be valued for your own uniqueness.... Read more
The other night, a friend from our adoption small group posted a link on Facebook that practically gave my wife and I palpitations. The link was to the “Head Covering Movement”, which is a new Christian Fundamentalist movement attempting to stave off the movement of gender equality within Christianity. Instead of sticking to traditional fundamentalist methods of persuasion by force and shaming within their own congregations, this movement is beginning to utilize the full-force of modern media with a relatively... Read more
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